Studies on the Toxicity of Sarcocystis

When a suspension of a rhesus monkey’s muscle infected with Sarcocystis kortei spores was injected intravenously into rabbits, the animals showed toxic manifestations similar to those produced by S. tenella spores and antigen; they suffered severe diarrhoea, and collapsed and died within 4–12 hr. No toxin was found in the neighbouring uninfected muscles of the same infected monkey.

S. kortei did not produce toxic manifestations when fed to laboratory rodents or when fed to, or inoculated into, rhesus monkeys. S. pitymysi did not produce toxic effects when injected intravenously into rabbits, or subcutaneously or intraperitoneally into rodents.