Dubey J P, Garner M M, Stetter M D, Marsh A E, Barr B C
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Parasite Biology and Epidemiology Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA.
J Parasitol. 2001 Aug;87(4):824-32. doi: 10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[0824:ASFLII]2.0.CO;2.
An unidentified Sarcocystis falcatula-like infection was diagnosed in a captive bee-eater (Merops nubicus) in a zoo in Florida. The bird died suddenly, probably due to protozoa-associated pneumonia. Protozoal schizonts were found in lungs and heart, and immature sarcocysts were seen in skeletal muscles. Ultrastructurally, schizonts were located in capillary endothelium and merozoites lacked rhoptries, consistent with the structure of Sarcocystis species. Sarcocysts were immature, microscopic, and contained only metrocytes. The sarcocyst wall had finger-like villar protrusions that were up to 0.7 microm long and up to 0.2 microm wide. The villar protrusions lacked microtubules, characteristically seen in sarcocysts of S. falcatula. Antigenically, parasites in lungs and muscles of the bee-eater reacted with a varying intensity with polyclonal rabbit antisera to S. falcatula and Sarcocystis neurona. Results indicated that sarcocysts in the bee-eater were morphologically different from the reported structure for sarcocysts of other S. falcatula infections.
在佛罗里达州一家动物园的一只圈养蜂虎（黄喉蜂虎）身上诊断出一种不明的类镰状肉孢子虫感染。这只鸟突然死亡，可能是由于原生动物相关的肺炎。在肺部和心脏中发现了原生动物裂殖体，在骨骼肌中看到了未成熟的肉孢子虫囊。超微结构上，裂殖体位于毛细血管内皮中，裂殖子缺乏棒状体，这与肉孢子虫属的结构一致。肉孢子虫囊未成熟，显微镜下可见，仅含有滋养母细胞。肉孢子虫囊壁有指状的绒毛状突起，长达0.7微米，宽达0.2微米。绒毛状突起缺乏微管，这是镰状肉孢子虫囊的典型特征。抗原性方面，蜂虎肺部和肌肉中的寄生虫与针对镰状肉孢子虫和神经肉孢子虫的多克隆兔抗血清反应强度不同。结果表明，蜂虎体内的肉孢子虫囊在形态上与其他镰状肉孢子虫感染所报告的肉孢子虫囊结构不同。
