infection in red deer with eosinophilic myositis/fasciitis in Switzerland and involvement of red foxes ( ) and hunting dogs in the transmission.

Red deer () carcasses showing grey-greenish discolouration have been increasingly observed in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. We investigated whether infections were associated with this pathology, and whether wild and domestic canids were involved in their transmission. Meat from affected red deer ( 26), faeces and intestines from red foxes ( ) ( 126), and faeces from hunting dogs ( 12) from the region, were analysed. Eosinophilic myositis and/or fasciitis were diagnosed in 69% of the deer, and sarcocysts were observed in 89% of the animals. Molecular typing targeting a ~700bp variable region of the 18S rRNA gene revealed in 73%, in 54%, in 12%, in 8% and in 4% of the deer samples. No inflammatory changes were observed in red deer carcasses with normal appearance ( = 8); however, sarcocysts were observed in one sample, and , or DNA was detected in five samples. oocysts/sporocysts were observed in 11/106 faecal and 6/20 intestinal fox samples, and in 2/12 canine samples. ( 8), ( 2), ( 2), and ( 1) were identified in foxes, and ( = 2), ( = 1) and ( = 1) in dogs. This study provides first molecular evidence of and infection in red deer and in dogs and represents the first record of transmitted by corvids in Central Europe. Although species infecting red deer are not regarded as zoonotic, the affected carcasses can be declared as unfit for human consumption due to the extensive pathological changes.