[Final host specificity of sarcocystis species transmitted by dogs (authors's transl)].

Dogs and raccoons were fed muscle of various intermediate hosts that had been infected either naturally or artificially wit Sarcocystis species transmitted from dogs. The muscle samples used for the experiments contained cysts of the following species: S. sp. of the donkey, S. bovicanis of cattle, S. ovicanis and S. sp. of sheep, S. suicanis of pigs, or S. capracanis and S. sp. of goats. In all trails, the dogs shed sporocysts of the Sarcocystis species concerned after a typical prepatency. In the faeces of the raccoons sporocysts were only found after they were fed on porcine muscle containing S. suicanis. The prepatency in raccoons was 9 days. Both the prepatent period of S. suicanis and the size of the excreted sporocysts were identical in dogs and raccoons. Sporocysts isolated from raccoon faeces were infective for pigs. Thus the raccoon was established as an additional final host of S. suicanis, and may be of significance in the epidemiology of this parasite in the European wild boar.