title: Sarcocystosis of Sarcocystis felis in cats.
abstract: The features of S. felis sarcocystosis in muscles of the domestic cats (Felis domesticus) were studied. A complete clinical history, post mortem, and histo-pathologic examinations were done for each cat. Multiple protozoan elliptical cysts were in the skeletal muscles, heart, and diaphragm muscles of 3/17 (17.6%) adult cats. Ultrastructural characteristics of the bradyzoites and cyst wall were consistent with those described for S. felis in bobcat and domestic cat. Clinico-pathological study in 3 cats showed hypertrophy cardiomyopathy and lymphosarcoma associated with S. felis. Tissue samples showed a spectrum of pathological changes such as multi-focal subacute myocarditis and multi-focal subarachnoid lymphocytic infiltration. DNA extracted from muscles diaphragm with cysts was tested by PCR and sequence analyses of ssurRNA gene. The phylogenetic reconstructions using neighbor-joining method showed that S. felis is closely related to S. neurona. The results were illustrated and photographed and peer discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hany M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Elsheikha
authors.forename: Frances A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Alice J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.forename: Linda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Mansfield
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D012522:Sarcocystis / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012523:Sarcocystosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan