First detection of Sarcocystis hirsuta from cattle in Iran

Although the high infection rate of microscopic sarcocyst occurs in cattle, to the best of our knowledge,there is no report about the identification of macroscopic sarcocyst in Iran. In this work, Sarcosystis hirsutawas first isolated from slaughtered cattle. In a 2-year-old slaughtered cattle, morphological examinationrevealed 3-5 mm in length cysts distributed in different striated muscles, particularly intercostalis anddiaphragm. In electron microscopy study, ultramicroscopic structure of primary cyst wall based on thepresence of cone-shaped villar protrusions confirmed the occurrence of S. hirsuta.