A Systematic Meta-Analysis of Global Infection in Sheep and Goats.

Sarcocystosis is an intracellular parasitic disease caused by spp. that has a worldwide prevalence. Symptoms of the disease include diarrhea and muscle pain. The disease poses a threat to the health of animals. The aim of this review is to investigate the global prevalence of infection in sheep and goats during 2013-2022. We searched five databases: Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. A total of 36 articles containing 44 datasets met the criteria and were included in the study. The total infection rates of in sheep and goats were 66.3% (95% CI, 51.79-79.38%) and 52.1% (95% CI, 29.45-74.23%), respectively. It was found that species tend to have a host species preference. Coinfection of and often occurred in sheep, and goats were frequently infected with . Age and sex were identified as risk factors for infection in sheep and goats. The infection rates of female and male animals were significantly different, with females having a higher infection rate. Age-adjusted analysis showed that infection rates in animals older than one year were higher than in animals younger than one year. This study unveiled the global distribution of and sheds light on its transmission in sheep and goats.