Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T01:56:59.243Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An update on sarcocystosis in one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2018

Muhammad A. Saeed ,
Jane L. Vaughan  and
Abdul Jabbar Open the ORCID record for Abdul Jabbar [Opens in a new window]
Muhammad A. Saeed
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia
Jane L. Vaughan
Affiliation:
Cria Genesis, PO Box 406, Ocean Grove, Victoria 3226, Australia
Abdul Jabbar*
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Abdul Jabbar, E-mail: jabbara@unimelb.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sarcocystis spp. are intracellular coccidian parasites which infect domestic and wild animals and birds, resulting in considerable economic losses in production animals, and public health concerns worldwide. Sarcocystis spp. have an indirect life cycle where wild and/or domestic canine species primarily serve as definitive hosts and several domestic and wild animals (such as camels) act as intermediate hosts. In Northern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and China, camel meat is preferred due to cultural and religious traditions as well as its lower cholesterol/fat content than other red meat. However, camel meat quality could be downgraded by the presence of sarcocysts. To date, two Sarcocystis spp. have been reported from camels, including Sarcocystis ippeni (forms microscopic sarcocysts) and Sarcocystis cameli (forms both macroscopic and microscopic sarcocysts). Sarcocystosis is usually asymptomatic, though significant pathogenic effects have also been reported in camels. Despite the high occurrence of sarcocystosis in camels, little is known about various aspects of the disease in these animals. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the existing knowledge on the taxonomy, pathogenesis, epidemiology and diagnosis of Sarcocystis spp. infecting camels and it also highlights areas for further research that could enhance our understanding about sarcocystosis in camels.

Keywords

Camelus dromedariusdromedary camelsSarcocystisSarcocystosis
Type
Review Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 145 , Issue 11 , September 2018 , pp. 1367 - 1377
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdel-Baki, AA, Allam, G, Sakran, T and El-Malah, EM (2009) Lambs infected with UV-attenuated sporocysts of Sarcocystis ovicanis produced abnormal sarcocysts and induced protective immunity against a challenge infection. The Korean Journal of Parasitology 47, 131–138.Google Scholar
Abdel Ghaffar, F, Entzeroth, R, Chobotar, B and Scholtyseck, E (1979) Ultrastructural studies of Sarcocystis sp. from the camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Egypt. Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 30, 434–438.Google Scholar
Abdel-Ghaffar, F, Mehlhorn, H, Bashtar, AR, Al-Rasheid, KAS, Sakran, T and El-Fayoumi, H (2009) Life cycle of Sarcocystis camelicanis infecting the camel (Camelus dromedarius) and the dog (Canis familiaris), light and electron microscopic study. Parasitology Research 106, 189–195.Google Scholar
Abd-Elmalek, B, Abed, G and Mandour, A (2015) Study on Sarcocystis sp. by light and electron microscopy in camel muscles at assiut governorate. Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology 6. doi: 10.4172/2157-7579.1000266.Google Scholar
AbuBakar, S, Teoh, BT, Sam, SS, Chang, LY, Johari, J, Hooi, PS, Lakhbeer-Singh, HK, Italiano, CM, Omar, SFS and Wong, KT (2013) Outbreak of human infection with Sarcocystis nesbitti, Malaysia, 2012. Emerging Infectious Diseases 19, 1989–1991.Google Scholar
Al-Ani, FK and Amr, Z (2017) Sarcocystis spp prevalence in camel meat in Jordan. Journal of Dairy & Veterinary Sciences 4, 1–3.Google Scholar
Al-Quraishy, S, Bashtar, A, Al-Rasheid, K and Abdel-Ghaffar, F (2004) Prevalence and ultrastructure of Sarcocystis species infecting camels (Camelus dromedaries) slaughtered in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 11, 135–141.Google Scholar
Anderson, DE (2008) Ionophores: salinomycin toxicity in camelids. In Fowler ME (ed.). Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine (6th edn). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, pp. 50–54.Google Scholar
Borrow, HA, Mohammed, HA and Di Sacco, B (1989) Sarcocystis in Somali camels. Parassitologia 31, 133–136.Google Scholar
Dubey, J, Calero-Bernal, R, Rosenthal, B, Speer, C and Fayer, R (2015 a) Sarcocystosis of Animals and Humans, 2nd edn. Florida, USA: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Dubey, JP (2015) Foodborne and waterborne zoonotic sarcocystosis. Food and Waterborne Parasitology 1, 2–11.Google Scholar
Dubey, JP, Speer, C and Fayer, R (1989) Sarcocystosis of Animals and Man. Florida, USA: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Dubey, JP, Hilali, M, Van Wilpe, E, Calero-Bernal, R, Verma, SK and Abbas, IE (2015 b) A review of sarcocystosis in camels and redescription of Sarcocystis cameli and Sarcocystis ippeni sarcocysts from the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius). Parasitology 142, 1481–1492.Google Scholar
Dubey, JP, A'Aji, NN, Mowery, JD, Verma, SK and Calero-Bernal, R (2017) Identification of macroscopic sarcocysts of Sarcocystis cameli from one-humped camels? (Camelus dromedarius) in Iraq. Journal of Parasitology 103, 168–169.Google Scholar
El-Etreby, M (1970) Myocardial sarcosporidiosis in the camel. Pathologia Veterinaria 7, 7–11.Google Scholar
Entzeroth, R, Ghaffar, FA, Chobotar, B and Scholtyseck, E (1980) Fine structural study of Sarcocystis sp. from Egyptian camels (Camelus dromedarius). Acta Veterinaria Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 29, 335–339.Google Scholar
Eslampanah, M, Motamedi, GR, Dalimi, A, Noori, A, Habibi, GR, Aghaeepour, K and Niroumand, M (2016) Study of camel and goat Sarcocystis by electron microscopic and PCR-RFLP. Veterinary Researches Biological Products (Pajouhesh-Va-Sazandegi) 29, 77–84.Google Scholar
FAOSTAT (2016) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Avaiable at http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QL.Google Scholar
Fatani, A, Elsebaie, A and Hilali, M (1996) Clinical and haematobiochemical changes in camels (Camelus dromedarius) experimentally inoculated with Sarcocystis cameli. Journal of Camel Practice and Research 3, 11–15.Google Scholar
Faye, B (2014) The camel today: assets and potentials. Anthropozoologica 49, 167–176.Google Scholar
Fayer, R (2004) Sarcocystis spp. in human infections. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 17, 894–902.Google Scholar
Fayer, R and Dubey, J (1984) Protective immunity against clinical sarcocystosis in cattle. Veterinary Parasitology 15, 187–201.Google Scholar
Ford, G (1985) Immunity of sheep to homologous challenge with dog-borne Sarcocystis species following varying levels of prior exposure. International Journal for Parasitology 15, 629–634.Google Scholar
Fukuyo, M, Battsetseg, G and Byambaa, B (2002) Prevalence of Sarcocystis infection in meat-producing animals in Mongolia. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 33, 490–495.Google Scholar
Godoy, Z, Vilca, L, Gonzáles, Z, Leyva, V and Sam, T (2007) Saneamiento y detoxificación de carne de llama (Lama glama) infectada con Sarcocystis aucheniae mediante cocción, horneado, fritura y congelado. Revista de Investigaciones Veterinarias del Perú 18, 51–56.Google Scholar
Hamidinejat, H, Hekmatimoghaddam, S, Jafari, H, Sazmand, A, Haddad Molayan, P, Derakhshan, L and Mirabdollahi, S (2013) Prevalence and distribution patterns of Sarcocystis in camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Yazd province, Iran. Journal of Parasitic Diseases 37, 163–165.Google Scholar
Hidron, A, Vogenthaler, N, Santos-Preciado, JI, Rodriguez-Morales, AJ, Franco-Paredes, C and Rassi, A (2010) Cardiac involvement with parasitic infections. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 23, 324–349.Google Scholar
Hilali, M and Mohamed, A (1980) The dog (Canis familiaris) as the final host of Sarcocystis cameli (Mason, 1910). Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 31, 213–214.Google Scholar
Hilali, M, Imam, E and Hassan, A (1982) The endogenous stages of Sarcocystis cameli (Mason, 1910). Veterinary Parasitology 11, 127–129.Google Scholar
Hilali, M, Nassar, AM and Elghaysh, A (1992) Camel (Camelus dromedarius) and sheep (Ovis aries) meat as a source of dog infection with some coccidian parasites. Veterinary Parasitology 43, 37–43.Google Scholar
Hilali, M, Fatani, A and Al-Atiya, S (1995) Isolation of tissue cysts of Toxoplasma, Isospora, Hammondia and Sarcocystis from camel (Camelus dromedarius) meat in Saudi Arabia. Veterinary Parasitology 58, 353–356.Google Scholar
Hosseini, S, Ataeie, A, Rahimi, E and Jafarian, M (2010) Prevalence of sarcocystosis in camel in Najafabad slaughterhouse. Journal of Veterinary Pathobiology 1, 41–47.Google Scholar
Hussein, HS and Warrag, M (1985) Prevalence of Sarcocystis in food animals in the Sudan. Tropical Animal Health and Production 17, 100–101.Google Scholar
Ishag, MY (2003) Studies on Toxoplasma and Sarcocystis from Camels (Camelus dromedaries) in the Sudan. Thesis, University of Khartoum, Sudan.Google Scholar
Ishag, MY, Majid, A and Magzoub, A (2006) Isolation of a new Sarcocystis species from Sudanese camels (Camelus dromedarius). International Journal of Tropical Medicine 1, 167–169.Google Scholar
Kadim, I, Mahgoub, O and Purchas, R (2008) A review of the growth, and of the carcass and meat quality characteristics of the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedaries). Meat Science 80, 555–569.Google Scholar
Kadim, I, Mahgoub, O and Mbaga, M (2014) Potential of camel meat as a non-traditional high quality source of protein for human consumption. Animal Frontiers 4, 13–17.Google Scholar
Kirmse, P and Mohanbabu, B (1986) Sarcocystis sp. in the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) from Afghanistan. British Veterinary Journal 142, 73–74.Google Scholar
Kumar, M, Vyas, I, Dadhich, H, Rani, S, Mathur, M, Sharma, S, Saini, K and Kumar, S (2016) Occurrence and pathology of upper gastrointestinal parasites in camel (Camelus dromedaries). Veterinary Practitioner 17, 176–177.Google Scholar
Kuraev, G (1981) Sarcocystosis of camels in Kazakhstan (in Russian). Veterinaria 7, 41–42.Google Scholar
Latif, B and Khamas, W (2007) Light and ultrastructural morphology of sarcocystosis in one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Northern Jordan. Journal of Camel Practice and Research 14, 45–48.Google Scholar
Latif, BMA, Al-Delemi, JK, Mohammed, BS, Al-Bayati, SM and Al-Amiry, AM (1999) Prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. in meat-producing animals in Iraq. Veterinary Parasitology 84, 85–90.Google Scholar
Lau, YL, Chang, PY, Tan, CT, Fong, MY, Mahmud, R and Wong, KT (2014) Sarcocystis nesbitti infection in human skeletal muscle: possible transmission from snakes. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 90, 361–364.Google Scholar
Leek, RG and Fayer, R (1983) Experimental Sarcocystis ovicanis infection in lambs: Salinomycin chemoprophylaxis and protective immunity. The Journal of Parasitology 69, 271–276.Google Scholar
Leguía, G (1991) The epidemiology and economic impact of llama parasites. Parasitology Today 7, 54–56.Google Scholar
Manal, YI, El Amin, E and Osman, A (2001) Camels experimentally infected with Sarcocystis. The Sudan Journal of Veterinary Research 17, 27–33.Google Scholar
Mandour, A, Rabie, S, Mohammed, N and Hussein, N (2011) On the presence of Sarcocystis miescheri sp. nov. in camels of Qena governorate. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences 3, 1–7.Google Scholar
Martin, M, Franco, CD, Romero, S, Carletti, T, Schnittger, L and Florin-Christensen, M (2016) Molecular detection of Sarcocystis aucheniae in the blood of llamas from Argentina. Revista Argentina de Microbiologia 48, 200–205.Google Scholar
Mason, FE (1910) Sarcocysts in the camel in Egypt. Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics 23, 168–176.Google Scholar
Miescher, F (1843) Über eigenthümliche Schläuche in den Muskeln einer Hausmaus. Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel 5, 198–202.Google Scholar
Miller, M, Barr, B, Nordhausen, R, James, E, Magargal, S, Murray, M, Conrad, P, Toy-Choutka, S, Jessup, D and Grigg, M (2009) Ultrastructural and molecular confirmation of the development of Sarcocystis neurona tissue cysts in the central nervous system of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). International Journal for Parasitology 39, 1363–1372.Google Scholar
More, G, Pardini, L, Basso, W, Marin, R, Bacigalupe, D, Auad, G, Venturini, L and Venturini, MC (2008) Seroprevalence of Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis sp. in llamas (Lama glama) from Jujuy, Argentina. Veterinary Parasitology 155, 158–160.Google Scholar
Motamedi, GR, Dalimi, A, Nouri, A and Aghaeipour, K (2011) Ultrastructural and molecular characterization of Sarcocystis isolated from camels? (Camelus dromedarius) in Iran. Parasitology Research 108, 949–954.Google Scholar
Odening, K (1997) Die Sarcocystis-Infektion: Wechselbeziehungen zwischen freilebenden Wildtieren, Haustieren und Zootieren. Zoologische Garten 67, 317–340.Google Scholar
Omer, SA, Alzuraiq, AA and Mohammed, OB (2017) Prevalence and molecular detection of Sarcocystis spp. infection in the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. Biomedical Research India 28, 4962–4965.Google Scholar
Poulsen, CS and Stensvold, CR (2014) Current status of epidemiology and diagnosis of human sarcocystosis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 52, 3524–3530.Google Scholar
Rahbari, S, Bazargani, T and Rak, H (1981) Sarcocystosis in the camel in Iran. Journal of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Tehran 37, 1–10.Google Scholar
Rao, GR, Sharma, R and Shah, H (1997) Occurrence of sarcocystis in the camel (Camelus dromedarius) in India. Indian Veterinary Journal 74, 426.Google Scholar
Romero, S, Carletti, T, Franco, CD, Moré, G, Schnittger, L and Florin-Christensen, M (2017) Seropositivity to Sarcocystis infection of llamas correlates with breeding practices. Veterinary Parasitology 10, 65–70.Google Scholar
Saeed, MA, Rashid, MH, Vaughan, J and Jabbar, A (2018) Sarcocystosis in South American camelids: The state of play revisited. Parasites and Vectors (in press).Google Scholar
Shekarforoush, SS, Shakerian, A and Hasanpoor, MM (2006) Prevalence of Sarcocystis in slaughtered one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Iran. Tropical Animal Health and Production 38, 301–303.Google Scholar
Stojecki, K, Karamon, J, Sroka, J and Cencek, T (2012) Molecular diagnostics of Sarcocystis spp. infections. Polish Journal of Veterinary Sciences 15, 589–596.Google Scholar
Tenter, AM (1995) Current research on Sarcocystis species of domestic animals. International Journal for Parasitology 25, 1311–1330.Google Scholar
Valinezhad, A, Oryan, A and Ahmadi, N (2008) Sarcocystis and its complications in camels (Camelus dromedarius) of Eastern provinces of Iran. Korean Journal of Parasitology 46, 229–234.Google Scholar
Vilca, M, Durán, J, Ramos, D and Lucas, J (2013) Saneamiento y eliminación de la toxicidad de carne de alpaca (Vicugna pacos) con sarcocistiosis mediante ahumado y curado. Revista de Investigaciones Veterinarias del Perú 24, 537–543.Google Scholar
Viscarra, R, Rushton, J, González, A and López, T (2003) Validation of a serological test for sarcocystiosis in llamas found in the Bolivian High Andes. In Las memorias del 10 Symposium Internacional de Epidemiología y Economía Veterinaria. Viña del mar, Chile, vol. 17.Google Scholar
Vounba, P (2010) Etude de la prévalence de la sarcosporidiose musculaire du Dromadaire (Camelus dromedarius) aux abattoirs de N'djamena (Tchad) et de Nouakchott (Mauritanie). Thèse pour obtenir le grade de Docteur Vétérinaire (Diplôme D’état), Faculté de Médecine, de Pharmacie et d'Odonto-Stomatologie de Dakar, Dakar (Senegal), 100 p.Google Scholar
Wernery, U, Kinne, J and Schuster, RK (2014) Camelid Infectious Disorders. Paris, France: OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) Press.Google Scholar
Woldemeskel, M and Gumi, B (2001) Prevalence of sarcocysts in one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) from southern Ethiopia. Journal of Veterinary Medicine 48, 223–226.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Saeed et al. supplementary material

Table S1

Download Saeed et al. supplementary material(File)
File 21.6 KB