Besnoitiosis of the reproductive tract of male goats

Because of high morbidity of caprine besnoitiosis in different provinces of Iran and its significant adverse economic impact on goat production in this area, this study was undertaken to study the macroscopic and microscopic changes of the scrotum, testis, and epididymis of animals at different age groups associated with Besnoitia spp. The testicles, epididymides, and scrotums of 106 male goats slaughtered at Shiraz slaughterhouse from different surrounding villages at different time intervals were randomly selected for pathological studies. From 106 examined goats of different age groups, 20 (18.9%) were infected with Besnoitia cysts. Grossly, most of the infected testicles showed mild to extensive mineralization on the surface of their longitudinal incision. While goats less than 1 year old showed no sign of infection, the prevalence of the infection increased with the age of the animals. The head of the epididymis showed the highest rate of infection, and it was followed by the scrotum, testis, and tail of the epididymis. Some of the infected epididymides and testicles also showed mild to severe tubular degeneration, necrosis, fibrosis, mineralization, sperm retention, sperm granuloma, chronic interstitial orchitis, and epididymitis. Granulomatous reactions were also found around the degenerating cysts. Cysts were localized in the tunica albugina and tunica vaginalis too. The lumina of some of the blood vessels in the epididymis and testis were partially or completely occluded by the Besnoitia cysts. Spermatogenic activity was retarded relevant to the rate of infection of the testicles. The scrotums showed mild to severe besnoitiosis, and the cysts were mainly localized in the superficial regions of their dermis and to some extent in the deep dermis. It seems that besnoitiosis is a serious problem in this area and not only has an impact on economical loss in the skin and leather industries but it also could have an adverse effect on spermatogenesis in male goats and indirectly affect goat production.