Wünschmann Arno, Rejmanek Daniel, Conrad Patricia A, Hall Natalie, Cruz-Martinez Luis, Vaughn Samuel B, Barr Bradd C
Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1333 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
J Vet Diagn Invest. 2010 Mar;22(2):282-9. doi: 10.1177/104063871002200222.
Three bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and 1 golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) were admitted to rehabilitation facilities with emaciation, lethargy, and an inability to fly. Intravascular schizonts and merozoites were present in 2 bald eagles, mainly in the lung tissue, whereas the third bald eagle and the golden eagle had lymphohistiocytic encephalitis with intralesional schizonts and merozoites. In all eagles, protozoal tissue cysts were present in skeletal musculature or heart. The protozoal organisms were morphologically compatible with a Sarcocystis sp. By immunohistochemistry, the protozoal merozoites were positive for Sarcocystis falcatula antigen in all cases when using polyclonal antisera. Furthermore, the protozoa were confirmed to be most similar to S. falcatula by polymerase chain reaction in 3 of the 4 cases. To the authors' knowledge, this report presents the first cases of natural infection in eagles with S. falcatula as a cause of mortality.
三只白头海雕（Haliaeetus leucocephalus）和一只金雕（Aquila chrysaetos）因消瘦、嗜睡和无法飞行而被送往康复机构。两只白头海雕体内存在血管内裂殖体和裂殖子，主要存在于肺组织中，而第三只白头海雕和金雕患有淋巴细胞性组织细胞性脑炎，病灶内有裂殖体和裂殖子。在所有的鹰中，骨骼肌或心脏中都存在原生动物组织囊肿。这些原生动物在形态上与一种肉孢子虫属（Sarcocystis sp.）相符。通过免疫组织化学方法，当使用多克隆抗血清时，所有病例中的原生动物裂殖子对镰状肉孢子虫（Sarcocystis falcatula）抗原呈阳性反应。此外，在4例中的3例中，通过聚合酶链反应证实这些原生动物与镰状肉孢子虫最为相似。据作者所知，本报告首次报道了鹰因感染镰状肉孢子虫而自然死亡的病例。
