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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #422066
Research Project: Foodborne Parasites and their Impact on Food Safety

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: Sarcocystis infection in domestic and wild avian hosts: Inseparable flight partners

Author
item PRAKAS, PETRAS - Nature Research Centre
item CALERO-BERNAL, RAFAEL - Complutense University Of Madrid (UCM)
item Dubey, Jitender

Submitted to: Veterinary Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/4/2025
Publication Date: 2/7/2025
Citation: Prakas, P., Calero-Bernal, R., Dubey, J.P. 2025. Sarcocystis infection in domestic and wild avian hosts: Inseparable flight partners. Veterinary Parasitology. 335. Article e110413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2025.110413.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2025.110413

Interpretive Summary: Sarcocystis species are single celled parasites of livestock and humans. There are more than 200 species in the genus Sarcocystis; some cause serious illness in animals and humans and some species are zoonotic. There are numerous species of Sarcocystis that infect birds and diagnosis is tedious. Here, the authors evaluated reports of Sarcocystis infections in domestic and wild birds for the last decade and critically evaluated diagnostic methods, especially PCR. The results will be of interest to veterinarians, farmers, zoo- keepers, biologists, and parasitologists.

Technical Abstract: Sarcocystis infections have been reported from numerous avian species. A remarkable number of valid Sarcocystis species infecting birds have been identified and named having avian species as intermediate hosts (n=32). Only 14 species have their complete biological cycle known due to the difficulties in conducting in vivo experiments. In addition, at least 16 Sarcocystis species have been confirmed by molecular techniques to use birds as their definitive hosts. The present paper reviews recent findings in the field and remarks on the contribution of molecular tools to unravel important aspects of the epidemiology of the genus. Clinical diagnosis is discussed. Three Sarcocystis species, Sarcocystis falcatula, Sarcocystis calchasi, and Sarcocystis halieti have wide host range and cause clinical sarcocystosis in many avian species. Limitations of currently available molecular markers and animal experimentation to distinguish closely related Sarcocystis species are discussed.