The red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, a native definitive host of Frenkelia microti (Apicomplexa) in North America.
Oral inoculation of prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, with coccidian sporocysts isolated from the feces of a red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, in Kansas, USA, resulted in formation of Frenkelia microti (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) tissue cysts in the brains of the voles. Five additional isolates of morphologically similar sporocysts collected from red-tailed hawks or other Buteo spp. in Kansas failed to result in detectable infections in rodents. These results are the first to verify that red-tailed hawks are natural definitive host in North America for F. microti.
Upton
S J
SJ
Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506.
McKown
R D
RD
D000818:Animals; D016782:Apicomplexa / Q000502:physiology*; D003411:Arvicolinae; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001717:Birds; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D010542:Peromyscus; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal