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Title:   Author  item
                                            SUNDAR, N - USDA ARS APDL MDitem
                                            Asmundsson, Ingriditem
                                            THOMAS, N - MADISON, WIitem
                                            SAMUEL, M - U WISCONSIN MADISON WIitem
                                            Dubey, Jitenderitem
                                            Rosenthal, Benjamin
  Submitted to: Veterinary Parasitology
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 11/30/2007
                                    Publication  Date: 3/1/2008
                                    Citation: Sundar, N., Asmundsson, I.M., Thomas, N.J., Samuel, M.D., Dubey, J.P., Rosenthal, B.M. 2007. Modest genetic differentiation among North American populations of Sarcocystis neurona may reflect expansion in its geographic range. Veterinary Parasitology. 152:8-15.Interpretive Summary: Sarcocystis species are single celled parasites that cause illness in humans and livestock. Humans and other hosts  can become infected with this parasite by ingesting  infected  tissues. Herbivores  can become infected by ingesting food and water contaminated with the resistant parasite stages excreted in feces of infected humans.Sarcocystis neurona causes a fatal disease in horses and other mammals.

Scientists at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center  and  Us Fish and Wildlife   report genetic characterization of S. neurona from sea otters, raccoons and skunk. The results will be of interest to biologists, parasitologists,   and veterinarians.
                                Technical Abstract: Sarcocystis neurona is an important cause of neurological disease in horses (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, EPM) and sea otters in the United States. In addition, EPM-like disease has been diagnosed in several other land and marine mammals. Little genetic diversity among isolates of S. neurona from different hosts has been reported. Here, we used 11 microsatellites to characterize S. neurona DNA isolated from natural infections in 22 sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from California and Washington and in 11 raccoons (Procyon lotor) and one striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) from Wisconsin. By jointly analyzing these 34 isolates with 26 isolates previously reported, we determined that geographic barriers may limit S. neurona dispersal and that only a limited subset of possible parasite genotypes may have been introduced to recently established opossum populations.  Moreover, our study confirms that diverse, sympatric hosts share a common infection source, the opossum (Didelphis virginiana).


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