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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #427642
Research Project: Foodborne Parasites and their Impact on Food Safety

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: Sarcocystis infections in tongues of cougars (Puma concolor couguar) in Colorado

Author
item Dubey, Jitender
item GUPTA, ADITYA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item MASON, REICHARD - Oklahoma State University
item CRIFFIELD, MARC - Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission
item LOGAN, KENNETH - Colorado Parks And Wildlife
item Rosenthal, Benjamin

Submitted to: Journal of Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/12/2025
Publication Date: 12/23/2025
Citation: Dubey, J.P., Gupta, A., Mason, R., Criffield, M., Logan, K., Rosenthal, B.M. 2025. Sarcocystis infections in tongues of cougars (Puma concolor couguar) in Colorado. Journal of Parasitology. 111(6):823-831. https://doi.org/10.1645/25-57.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1645/25-57

Interpretive Summary: Single-celled parasites in the genus Sarcocystis infect many species of domestic and wild animals. Some such species cause serious illnesses in livestock and humans. People become infected with Sarcocystis by eating uncooked infected meat (beef, pork) or by ingesting an environmentally tolerant stage excreted by carnivorous snakes. Here, USDA researchers discovered that 4 of 30 cougars sampled from Minnesota are infected with species of Sarcocystis that sickens dogs and cats, but they pose no known risk to humans or livestock. These results will help biologists, parasitologists, wildlife services, and veterinarians track the spread of such parasites in natural conditions and diagnose diseases in companion animals. The results also alleviate concern that cougars harbor species of Sarcocystis that endanger livestock or human health.

Technical Abstract: Sarcocystis species are intracellular protozoan parasites that infect a wide range of intermediate and definitive hosts, including felids. This study reports Sarcocystis species in the tongues of cougars (Puma concolor couguar) in Colorado for the first time. By light microscope, sarcocysts were found in 4 of 30 cougars; they appeared to represent more than 2 morphologic types by light microscopy. One morphologic type had serrations on the sarcocyst wall and resembled Sarcocystis felis reported from domestic and wild felids. In the second type, serrations were not visible on the sarcocyst wall. Molecular characterization using the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region revealed the presence of a Sarcocystis felis-like organism. This is the first characterization of ITS1 from a wild felid in the United States.