Search
Sarcocystis
Two-host Coccidia in which the sexual phase occurs within epithelial cells of intestinal mucosa of carnivores & the asexual phase occurs within muscle & other tissues of intermediate hosts. Humans serve as definitive hosts for Sarcocystis hominis & Sarcocystis suihominis & as intermediate hosts for Sarcocystis lindemanni. Tissue stages are generally seen as thick-walled cylindrical or fusiform cysts that measure up to 1 cm in length. They may occur in bird, reptile or mammal striated muscle (sarcocysts).
Management: no specific therapy exists
Related
definitive (final) host
intermediate (secondary) host
sarcocystosis
Specific
Sarcocystis hominis
Sarcocystis lindemanni
Sarcocystis neurona
Sarcocystis suihominis
General
Coccidia
Properties
KINGDOM: animal
PHYLUM: protozoa
References
- Clinical Diagnosis & Management by Laboratory Methods,
19th edition, J.B. Henry (ed), W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia,
PA. 1996, pg 1280
- Stedman's Medical Dictionary 26th ed, Williams &
Wilkins, Baltimore, 1995