Molecular confirmation of Sarcocystis gigantea in a naturally infected sheep in Argentina: A case report

The work describes a case of Sarcocystis gigantea infection in a 3-years-old Corriedale ewe from Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The ewe was found dead with a poor body condition. Pathological and molecular studies were carried out in order to try and confirm the causative agent of the infection. At necropsy, approx. 100 whitish elliptic (3–5 mm to 5–8 mm) macrocysts with a hard consistency were observed along the esophageal and pharyngeal muscular layers. Microscopically, the macrocysts consisted of an eosinophilic wall, internal septa originated from the eosinophilic wall and basophilic parasitic cells were located among the septa. The sarcocysts were identified molecularly through PCR amplification and sequencing of a short segment of the 18S rRNA gene. Sequence analysis of the amplified DNA demonstrated 100% identity to S. gigantea sequences previously published. To our knowledge this is the first molecular confirmation of S. gigantea infection in sheep in the Americas.Fil: Gual, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Bartley, Paul M.. Pentlands Science Park. Moredun Research Institute; Reino UnidoFil: Katzer, Frank. Pentlands Science Park. Moredun Research Institute; Reino UnidoFil: Innes, Elisabeth A.. Pentlands Science Park. Moredun Research Institute; Reino UnidoFil: Canton, German. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Moore, Dadin Prando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin