U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Building 1001, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350.
J Parasitol. 2024 Jul 1;110(4):402-411. doi: 10.1645/24-6.
Muscles of 25 bobcats (Lynx rufus) from remote areas of Mississippi in 2017 were tested for parasites. Testing for Sarcocystis infections included microscopic examination of fresh unstained muscle squashes, pepsin digestion of hearts and tongues, and histological sections of paraffin-embedded tissues. Sarcocystis spp. infections were detected in the muscles of 21 (84%) by a combination of methods. Sarcocysts were detected in the unstained tongue squashes of 2 bobcats. Sarcocystis sp. bradyzoites were detected in the pepsin digests of 3 of 19 hearts, and 12 of 19 tongues. In paraffin-embedded histological sections, sarcocysts were detected in 7 of 25 hearts, 17 of 25 tongues, and 5 of 23 limb muscles. Based on the character of the cyst wall, at least 3 morphologic types of sarcocysts were detected: those with small spikes on the cyst wall, corresponding to Sarcocystis felis, those with long villar protrusions, corresponding to Sarcocystis neurona, and those lacking visible cyst wall protrusions, representing an unidentified type of sarcocyst. Myositis associated with sarcocysts was seen in the tongues of 3, and in the limb muscles of 1 bobcat. Multilocus genotyping of the DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded sections from 2 bobcats, employing 18S, 28S, COI, ITS-1, and 5.8S and rpoB genes, diagnosed Sarcocystis caninum, S. felis, Sarcocystis lutrae, and S. neurona. An encapsulated species of Trichinella was identified in the tongue of 1; it represents the first documented occurrences in bobcats from Mississippi. Taken together, these observations suggest intensive exposure of these wild carnivores to Trichinella tissue cysts, implies predation or scavenging on these tissues promotes parasite transmission, and raises caution concerning zoonotic risk when such meat is rendered for human consumption.
2017 年，对来自密西西比州偏远地区的 25 只山猫（Lynx rufus）的肌肉进行了寄生虫检测。检测 Sarcocystis 感染包括对新鲜未染色肌肉压片的显微镜检查、胃蛋白酶消化心脏和舌头，以及石蜡包埋组织的组织学切片。通过多种方法组合，在 21 只（84%）肌肉中检测到 Sarcocystis spp. 感染。在 2 只山猫的未染色舌压片中检测到 Sarcocystis 孢子。在 3 只 19 只心脏的胃蛋白酶消化物中，12 只 19 只舌中检测到 Sarcocystis sp. 缓殖子。在石蜡包埋的组织切片中，在 7 只 25 只心脏、17 只 25 只舌头和 5 只 23 只四肢肌肉中检测到 Sarcocystis 孢子。根据囊壁的特征，至少检测到 3 种形态类型的 Sarcocystis 孢子：那些在囊壁上有小刺的，对应于 Sarcocystis felis，那些有长的绒毛状突起的，对应于 Sarcocystis neurona，以及那些没有可见囊壁突起的，代表一种未识别类型的 Sarcocystis 孢子。在 3 只山猫的舌中和 1 只山猫的四肢肌肉中观察到与 Sarcocystis 孢子相关的肌炎。对从 2 只山猫的石蜡包埋切片中提取的 DNA 进行多基因座基因分型，使用 18S、28S、COI、ITS-1 和 5.8S 和 rpoB 基因，诊断出 Sarcocystis caninum、S. felis、Sarcocystis lutrae 和 S. neurona。在 1 只山猫的舌中鉴定出一种囊型 Trichinella 物种；这是密西西比州山猫中首次记录到的。综上所述，这些观察结果表明，这些野生食肉动物接触 Trichinella 组织包囊的程度很高，表明捕食或食腐这些组织促进了寄生虫的传播，并在将这些肉用于人类消费时引起了对人畜共患病风险的警惕。
