Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An epizootic of besnoitiosis in goats in Fars Province of Iran

  • Published:
Veterinary Research Communications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Over 100 000 goats were grazing freely in isolated herds of 100 to 600 goats in a mountainous area of more than 2000 km2; to the north-east of Darab City in Fars Province in southern Iran. Twenty to fifty percent of the goats in this area were infected with besnoitiosis. Sheep, cattle and donkeys grazing in the same area showed no clinical manifestations of the infection. The diagnosis of the infection in the clinically suspected animals was confirmed by histological studies on skin biopsies from the ear tips and carpal and tarsal regions, and the distribution of this protozoon in the tissues and organs of this intermediate host was studied by post-mortem and histological examinations. Skin biopsies from the carpal and tarsal areas of 12% of clinically normal goats from the infected area were also lightly infected with besnoitia cysts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Basanets, V.M., Khvan, M.V. and Sokolovskaya, E., 1978. Complement fixation of antigen in Besnoitia infection of cattle. (in Russian). Trudy Kazakhskogo Nauchno Issledovatel'skogo Veterinarnogo Instituta Voprosy Veterinarnoi Parazitologii v Kazakhstane, 17, 11–14. (Taken from Protozoological Abstracts, 1981, 5, 4681)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazargani, T.T., Ghargozlou, M.J. and Ebrahimi, A., 1987. A survey on besnoitiosis in goats in Baft, Kerman. Journal of Tehran Veterinary Faculty, 41, 19–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigalke, R.D., 1960. Preliminary observations on the mechanical transmission of cyst organisms of Besnoitia besnoiti from a chronically infected bull to rabbits by Glossina brevipalpis. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 31, 37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigalke, R.D., 1968. New concepts of the epidemiological features of bovine besnoitiosis as determined by laboratory and field investigations. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 35, 3–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigalke, R.D., 1981. Besnoitiosis. In: M. Ristic and I. Mcintyre, eds, Diseases of Cattle in the Tropics, (Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague), 429–442

    Google Scholar 

  • Bwangamoi, O., Carles, A.B. and Wandera, J.G., 1989. An epidemic of besnoitiosis in goats in Kenya. Veterinary Record, 125, 461

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheema, A.H. and Toofanian, F., 1979. Besnoitiosis in wild and domestic goats in Iran. Cornell Veterinarian, 69, 159–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Frenkel, J.K., 1977. Besnoitia wallacei of cats and rodents: with a reclassification of other cyst-forming isosporoid coccidia. Journal of Parasitology, 63, 611–628

    Google Scholar 

  • Glover, G.J., Swendrowski, M. and Cawthorn, R.J., 1990. An epizootic of besnoitiosis in captive caribou (Rangifer trandus caribou), reindeer (Rangifer trandus trandus) and mule deer (Docoileus hemionus hemionus). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 26, 186–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Heerden, J.V., Els, H.J., Raubenheimer, E.J. and Williams, J.H., 1993. Besnoitiosis in a horse. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 64, 92–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Janitschke, K., De Vos, A.J. and Bigalke, R.D., 1984. Serodiagnosis of bovine besnoitiosis by ELISA and immunofluorescence tests. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 51, 239–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumann, M. and Nobel, T.A., 1981. Observations on the pathology of besnoitiosis in experimental animals. Zentalblatt fü r Veterinärmedizin, Reihe B, 28, 345–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng'ang'a, C.J. and Kasigazi, S., 1994. Caprine besnoitiosis: studies on the experimental intermediate hosts and the role of the domestic cat in transmission. Veterinary Parasitology, 52, 207–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Njenga, J.M., Bwangamoi, O., Mutiga, E.R., Kangethe, E.K. and Mugera, G.M., 1993. Preliminary findings from an experimental study of caprine besnoitiosis in Kenya. Veterinary Research Communications, 17, 203–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Njenga, J.M., Bwangamoi, O., Kangethe, E.K., Mugera, G.M. and Mutiga, E.R., 1995. Comparative ultrastructural studies on Besnoitia besnoiti and Besnoitia caprae. Veterinary Research Communications, 19, 295–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Pols, J.W., 1960. Studies on bovine besnoitiosis with special reference to the aetiology. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 28, 265–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Shkap, V., Unga-Waron, H., Pipano, E. and Greenblatt, C., 1985. Specific antibodies to Besnoitia besnoiti precipitated from serum of cattle by live parasites and by soluble antigen. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 6, 53–57

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathobiology Department, Veterinary School, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71345, PO Box 1731, Iran

    A. Oryan

  2. Darab Veterinary Clinics, Veterinary Organization, Darab, Iran

    M.J. Sadeghi

Authors
  1. A. Oryan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M.J. Sadeghi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Oryan, A., Sadeghi, M. An epizootic of besnoitiosis in goats in Fars Province of Iran. Vet Res Commun 21, 559–570 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005918931296

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005918931296

Search

Navigation