Prevalence of Sarcocysts in cows slaughtered in Kermanshah slaughterhouse

Sarcocystis infection is one of the most common protozoan infections between humans and animals that is caused by different species of Sarcocystis. The parasite is pathogenic to animals, including cattle and sheep, and also causes gastrointestinal symptoms in humans. Due to the health importance of this parasite, in this study, the rate of infection with macroscopic and microscopic sarcocystis cysts in cows slaughtered in Kermanshah slaughterhouse was investigated.In this study, 100 carcasses of cows were randomly selected and samples of esophagus, diaphragm, heart and tongue were prepared and examined. . The samples were examined by direct observation (macroscopic) and compression smear (Impression smear), which are diagnostic methods in animal tissues. The basis for the diagnosis of microscopic cysts was the preparation of pressure spread of the samples and then staining them with Giemsa dye and microscopic observation of parasitic bradyzoites.No macroscopic cysts were observed in the direct observation method. However, in the compression expansion method, 100% of the studied cows were positive for microscopic cysts. There was also a significant difference between the amount of infection in different muscles.All of the studied cows were infected with the parasite Sarcocystis, and the heart was identified as the most infected tissue.The present study shows that the compression propagation method, which is a simple, inexpensive and rapid method, has an acceptable sensitivity for detecting microscopic sarcocystis cysts.