Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409523
Research Project: Foodborne Parasites and their Impact on Food Safety

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: Sarcocystis and other parasites in feces of bobcats (lynx rufus) from Mississippi

Author
item Dubey, Jitender
item ARAUJO, LARISSA - Orise Fellow
item GUPTA, ADITYA - Orise Fellow
item Kwok, Oliver
item LOVALLO, MATHEW - Pennsylvania Game Commission, Bureau Of Wildlife Management

Submitted to: Journal of Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/8/2023
Publication Date: 12/28/2023
Citation: Dubey, J.P., Araujo, L., Gupta, A., Kwok, O.C., Lovallo, M. 2023. Sarcocystis and other parasites in feces of bobcats (lynx rufus) from Mississippi. Journal of Parasitology. 109(6):638-642. https://doi.org/10.1645/23-95.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1645/23-95

Interpretive Summary: Transmission of parasites through the ingestion of food and water contaminated with feces of domestic and wild carnivores is of public health and economic importance. Proper identification of these parasites in feces is of importance from a diagnostic viewpoint. Here, the authors report distinguishing features of protozoa and helminth stages detected in feces of wild bobcats from rural Mississippi. Zoonotic importance of parasites detected is discussed. The illustrations provided will be helpful to veterinarians, wildlife biologists, and parasites in distinguishing these parasites.

Technical Abstract: Rectal contents of 56 adult bobcats (Lynx rufus) in 2014 and 2017 from remote areas of Mississippi were examined microscopically for parasite stages after sugar flotation method. Among the helminths, eggs/larvae found were: Paragonimus kellcotti in 12, Toxocara cati in 16, Trichurid-capillarid in 3, hookworms in 27, and lungworms in 28. Among the protozoa, oocysts/cysts found were: Cystoisospora felis-like in 2, Cystoisospora rivolta-like in 4, Cryptosporidium sp. in 1, and Giardia sp. in 1. Additionally, numerous Sarcocystis sporocysts were detected in feces of 12 bobcats; sporocysts were described morphologically. Status of C. felis derived from the bobcat and other wild felids is reviewed compared with C. felis from the domestic cat. It is apparently the first record of C. rivolta from the bobcat. The presence of eggs of P. kellicotti and T. cati in feces of 21.4%, and 28.5%, respectively, suggests a role for the bobcat in the dissemination of these zoonotic helminths in the environment in the wild. Taxonomy of coccidia of wild Felidae is discussed and Isospora lynces Levine and Ivens, 1981 from the Lynx is now regarded as a species inquirendae.