Suspected Sarcocystis infection in an aborted bovine foetus

Authors: Vickers MC, Brooks HV
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 31, Issue 9, pp 166, Sep 1983
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Cattle, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Abortion/stillbirth, Reproduction, Muscle/myology, Disease/defect, Parasites - internal, Pathology, Protozoa, Reproduction - female, Infectious disease
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: Samples from a case of sporadic abortion, two weeks before term in a two-year-old heifer, were submitted to the Palmerston North Animal Health Laboratory. They consisted of fresh foetal stomach contents, fixed foetal lung, and maternal urine and serum. No significant pathogens were isolated from the stomach contents or urine and serological tests for brucellosis and leptospirosis were negative. Histological examination of paraffin-embedded foetal lung revealed small numbers of cystic structures within vascular endothelial cells of pulmonary capillaries. These cysts contained numerous intensely staining bodies, a feature characteristic of sporazoan parasites. The most common sporozoa which form tissue cysts in cattle are Toxoplasma and Sarcocystis. Because of the size, morphology and intravascular location of the cysts in this case, we consider them to be Sarcocystis schizonts. We did not have access to fluorescent antibody reagents which may have enabled detection of Surcocystis antigen in these structures…

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