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| *Oocysts are sporulated when passed | | *Oocysts are sporulated when passed |
| **Difficult to find on faecal examination as the sporocysts are few in number and small | | **Difficult to find on faecal examination as the sporocysts are few in number and small |
| + | |
| + | *Ingestion of sporocyst by intermediate host |
| + | **2 phases of rapid asexual reproduction in vascular endothelial cells |
| + | **Slow multiplication of bradyzoites in muscle tissue |
| + | **Sarcocyst forms with bradyzoites inside, surrounded by a cyst wall and divided into compartments |
| + | |
| + | '''Epidemiology''' |
| + | *Final hosts are carnivores and omnivores |
| + | |
| + | *Intermediate hosts are herbivores and omnivores |
| + | |
| + | *Humans are the final host for some species and the intermediate hosts for others |
| + | **Final host for species infecting cattle and pigs |
| + | |
| + | *Dogs are final hosts for species infecting cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses |
| + | |
| + | *Cats are final hosts for species infecting cattle, sheep and pigs |
| | | |
| '''Pathogenesis''' | | '''Pathogenesis''' |
| + | *Widespread infection but mostly asymptomatic |
| + | |
| *Cause meat inspection losses | | *Cause meat inspection losses |
| | | |
| *''Sarcocystis'' in [[Muscles Inflammatory - Pathology#Protozoa|myositis]] | | *''Sarcocystis'' in [[Muscles Inflammatory - Pathology#Protozoa|myositis]] |
| + | |
| + | *Experimental infections cause severe, acute pyrrhexic disease when the organism multiplies in the vascular endothelium |
| + | |
| + | *Can cause chronic wasting disease in cattle and horses |
| + | **Causes abortion and post-natal disease in sheep |
| + | |
| + | *Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis |
| + | **Necrotising encephalomyelitis affecting the grey and white matter of the CNS |
| + | **Caused by ''S.neurona'' |
| + | **Opossum thought to be the definitive host |
| + | **Horses thought to be accidental hosts |
| + | **Natural intermediate hosts currently unknown |
| + | **Western Blotting shows 50% of horses in the USA are seropositive |
| + | **Risk factors poorly understood |
| + | **Causes spinal cord dysfunction |
| + | ***Ataxia and paralysis |
| | | |
| ==Neospora== | | ==Neospora== |