Veterinary Parasitology 210 (2015) 102–105 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Parasitology jou rn al hom epage : www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar Short Communication Sarcocystis cruzi infection in wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) Rafael Calero-Bernal a , Shiv K. Verma a , C. Tom Seaton b , David Sinnett c , Erin Ball d , Detiger Dunams a , Benjamin M. Rosenthal a , Jitender P. Dubey a,∗ a Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville 20705-2350, MD, USA b Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fairbanks, AK 99701, USA c United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, 9001 East Frontage Road, Suite A, Palmer 99645, AK, USA d Veterinary Pathology Services, Joint Pathology Center, 606 Stephen Sitter Avenue, Silver Spring 20910, MD, USA a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 15 January 2015 Received in revised form 3 March 2015 Accepted 10 March 2015 Keywords: Conservation PCR-RFLP Protozoa Sarcocystis cruzi Wood bison Bison bison athabascae a b s t r a c t Endangered wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) is the largest terrestrial mammal in the American continent. Animal health is an important issue in their conservation, and Sarco- cystis cruzi may be a cause of clinical disease in Bovidae. Hearts of eight wood bison from Alaska, USA were examined for sarcocysts by histology, transmission electron microscopy, pepsin digestion, and molecularly. Sarcocystis bradyzoites were found in pepsin digests of all eight and sarcocysts were found in histologic sections of myocardium of four bison. Sarcocysts were thin-walled and ultrastructurally consistent with S. cruzi. Characterization of DNA obtained from lysis of pepsin liberated bradyzoites by PCR-RFLP and subsequent phylogenetic analyses matched with that previously reported for S. cruzi infecting cattle in the USA. Collectively, data indicate that wood bison is a natural intermediate host for S. cruzi. Published by Elsevier B.V. 1. Introduction Wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) is the largest ter- restrial animal in the American continent. Prior to 1950, wood bison suffered from unregulated hunting pressure and, also, the consequences of the human development in North America. Current conservation status of wood bison is Near Threatened according to the IUCN (2013) (Gates and Aune, 2008). Wood bison populations have been ∗ Corresponding author at: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Build- ing 1001, BARC, USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. Tel.: +1 301 504 8128; fax: +1 301 504 9222. E-mail address: jitender.dubey@ars.usda.gov (J.P. Dubey). reintroduced into several places in Northwest Canada, Siberia, and Alaska during the last 30 years. Animal health is an important issue in conservation; several diseases such as bovine tuberculosis, brucel- losis and anthrax constitute important challenges when wildlife share pastures with domestic livestock; some- times, the acceptance of drastic management strategies for bovine tuberculosis (and/or other diseases) in free-ranging wildlife is needed (Carstensen et al., 2011). Knowledge of the diseases present in wildlife may allow researchers to evaluate the influence/pressure of domestic herds in (presumably) virgin territories, as Alaska and the American Great Plains. Rosenthal et al. (2008) reported a low genetic variability of the ubiquitous protozoa Sarcocys- tis cruzi parasitizing cattle from North and South America http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.03.007 0304-4017/Published by Elsevier B.V.