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BACKGROUND Human intestinal sarcocystosis is a zoonotic disease caused by two coccidians, i.e. Sarcocystis fusiformis (syn. S. bovihominis, S. hominis) due to consumption of raw infected beef and Sarcocystis meischeriana (syn. S. suihominis) due to consumption of infected raw pork. In 1987, survey of the macroscopic S. fusiformis cysts in market beef mainly from old water buffalos aged more tha...

Poultry is an important source of protein and income for several households in Nigeria. However, the poultry industry threatened by outbreaks infectious diseases which may spread through interaction wild or migratory birds with poultry. The study aimed to detect morphologically identify Eimeria species from faecal samples chickens, pigeons African fire finches collected different farms Kaduna m...

Eimeria species cause the intestinal disease coccidiosis, most notably in poultry. While the direct impact of coccidiosis on animal health and welfare is clear, its influence on the enteric microbiota and by-stander effects on chicken health and production remains largely unknown, with the possible exception of Clostridium perfringens (necrotic enteritis). This study evaluated the composition a...

Resistance to coccidiostats and possible future restrictions on their use raise the need for alternative methods of reducing coccidiosis in poultry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of selected phytochemicals on Eimeria tenella sporozoite invasion in vitro. Four phytochemicals were selected on the basis that they reduce the virulence of Eimeria spp. and/or provide immune modulat...

Sarcocystis neurona is the most common cause of Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), affecting 0.5-1% horses in the United States during their lifetimes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the equine immune responses in an experimentally induced Sarcocystis neurona infection model. Neurologic parameters were recorded prior to and throughout the 70-day study by blinded investigator...

Sarcocystis neurona was isolated from the brain of a juvenile, male southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) suffering from CNS disease. Schizonts and merozoites in tissue sections of the otter's brain reacted with anti-S. neurona antiserum immunohistochemically. Development in cell culture was by endopolyogeny and mature schizonts were first observed at 3 days postinoculation. PCR of merozoi...

ABSTRACT: Cattle are considered intermediate hosts of Sarcocystis, which can cause clinical signs and lower performance in the acute phase infection. Sarcocystis spp. usually not visible to naked eye during post mortem inspection. Moreover, fresh microscopic examination transmission electron microscopy techniques difficult apply large samples. Therefore, extensive studies on infection cattle us...

Lipid rafts are detergent-resistant, liquid-ordered microdomains in plasma membranes that are enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids and involved in intracellular signal transduction, membrane trafficking, and molecular sorting. In this study, we investigated the possibility that lipid rafts on Eimeria tenella sporozoites may act as platforms for host cell invasion. Flotillin-1, a resident p...

Incorporation of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet of chicks challenged with coccidiosis (E. tenella) reduced the adverse effects on growth and reduced gut lesion scores. The optimum response with fish oil was seen with 5%. Lower levels of fish oil (2.5%) gave lower yet significant improvements. It was demonstrated that the main long chain omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil (EPA plus DHA) accounted ...