Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 62 in total

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  1. Fulltext Light microscopy and molecular identification of Sarcocystis spp. in meat producing animals in Selangor, Malaysia
    Latif B, Kannan Kutty M, Muslim A, Hussaini J, Omar E, Heo CC, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2015 Sep;32(3):444-52.
    PMID: 26695204 MyJurnal
    One thousand and forty-five tissue samples of skeletal muscles, tongue, heart, diaphragm and esophagus were collected from 209 animals (43 sheep, 89 goats and 77 cattle) from an abattoir in Selangor between February and October, 2013. Each sample was divided into three pieces with each piece measuring 2-3 mm3. Each piece was then squeezed between two glass slides and examined microscopically at x 10 magnification for the presence of sarcocystosis. Three positive samples from each animal species were then fixed in 10% formalin for histological processing. Seven positive samples collected from each animal species were preserved at -80°C or 90% ethanol for gene expression studies. Microsarcocysts were detected in 114 (54.5%) animals by light microscopy (LM). The infection rates in sheep, goat and cattle were 86, 61.8 and 28.6% respectively. The highest rate of infection was in the skeletal muscles of sheep (64.9%) and goats (63.6%) and in the heart of cattle (63.6%). The cysts were spindle to oval in shape and two stages were recognized, the peripheral metrocytes and centrally located banana-shaped bradyzoites. 18S rRNA gene expression studies confirmed the isolates from the sheep as S. ovicanis, goats as S. capracanis and cattle as S. bovicanis. This, to the best of our knowledge, is the first molecular identification of an isolate of S. ovicanis and S. capracanis in Malaysia. Further studies with electron microscopy (EM) are required in the future to compare the features of different types of Sarcocysts spp.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/cytology; Sarcocystis/genetics; Sarcocystis/isolation & purification*
  2. Revision of Sarcocystis orientalis Zaman and Colley, 1975
    Zaman V
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1975 Dec;6(4):603.
    PMID: 818718
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/classification*
  3. Scanning electron microscopy of the human muscular sarcocyst
    Wong KT, Yusoff M
    Parasitol Res, 1995;81(4):359-60.
    PMID: 7624297
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/isolation & purification; Sarcocystis/ultrastructure*
  4. Fulltext Sarcocystis nesbitti infection in human skeletal muscle: possible transmission from snakes
    Lau YL, Chang PY, Tan CT, Fong MY, Mahmud R, Wong KT
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2014 Feb;90(2):361-4.
    PMID: 24420776 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0678
    Sarcocystis nesbitti is an intracellular protozoan parasite found as sarcocysts within muscle fibers of intermediate hosts (monkey and baboon). The definitive host is suspected to be the snake. We report two cases from a larger cohort of 89 patients who had fever, headache, and generalized myalgia after a trip to Pangkor Island, Malaysia. Sarcocysts were detected in skeletal muscle biopsy specimens by light and electron microscopy from these two patients. DNA sequencing based on the 18S ribosomal DNA region identified the Sarcocystis species as S. nesbitti. We also identified S. nesbitti sequences in the stools of a snake (Naja naja). Phylogenetic analysis showed that these sequences form a cluster with most of the other known Sarcocystis species for which the snake is a definitive host. We believe these two patients were likely to have symptomatic acute muscular sarcocystosis after S. nesbitti infection that may have originated from snakes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/parasitology*
  5. Eosinophilia and musculoskeletal disease
    Watts RA
    Curr Opin Rheumatol, 2001 Jan;13(1):57-61.
    PMID: 11148716
    Eosinophilia is occasionally a feature of rheumatic disease. The differential diagnosis of eosinophilia includes parasitic infection, systemic vasculitides, eosinophilic arthritis, and myopathies, together with the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome and malignancy. Careful evaluation of the patient should enable an accurate diagnosis to be made. Parasitic infection is the commonest cause of eosinophilia worldwide and can cause systemic disease, as illustrated by the report of Sarcocystis myositis in a group of military personnel in Malaysia. A persistent arthropathy associated with eosinophilia, but not with parasitic infection, has been reported from the far East. Drugs may also cause eosinophilia, and there has recently been much discussion of the relation between Churg-Strauss syndrome and the leukotriene antagonist zafirlukast. The present view is that reduction of steroid dose allows unmasking of previously undiagnosed Churg-Strauss syndrome. The idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome may represent a lymphoproliferative process; evidence for this comes from the demonstration that many patients have a clonally expanded population of aberrant T cells.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis
  6. Fulltext Acute muscular sarcocystosis: an international investigation among ill travelers returning from Tioman Island, Malaysia, 2011-2012
    Esposito DH, Stich A, Epelboin L, Malvy D, Han PV, Bottieau E, et al.
    Clin Infect Dis, 2014 Nov 15;59(10):1401-10.
    PMID: 25091309 DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciu622
    BACKGROUND: Through 2 international traveler-focused surveillance networks (GeoSentinel and TropNet), we identified and investigated a large outbreak of acute muscular sarcocystosis (AMS), a rarely reported zoonosis caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Sarcocystis, associated with travel to Tioman Island, Malaysia, during 2011-2012.

    METHODS: Clinicians reporting patients with suspected AMS to GeoSentinel submitted demographic, clinical, itinerary, and exposure data. We defined a probable case as travel to Tioman Island after 1 March 2011, eosinophilia (>5%), clinical or laboratory-supported myositis, and negative trichinellosis serology. Case confirmation required histologic observation of sarcocysts or isolation of Sarcocystis species DNA from muscle biopsy.

    RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients met the case definition (62 probable and 6 confirmed). All but 2 resided in Europe; all were tourists and traveled mostly during the summer months. The most frequent symptoms reported were myalgia (100%), fatigue (91%), fever (82%), headache (59%), and arthralgia (29%); onset clustered during 2 distinct periods: "early" during the second and "late" during the sixth week after departure from the island. Blood eosinophilia and elevated serum creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels were observed beginning during the fifth week after departure. Sarcocystis nesbitti DNA was recovered from 1 muscle biopsy.

    CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians evaluating travelers returning ill from Malaysia with myalgia, with or without fever, should consider AMS, noting the apparent biphasic aspect of the disease, the later onset of elevated CPK and eosinophilia, and the possibility for relapses. The exact source of infection among travelers to Tioman Island remains unclear but needs to be determined to prevent future illnesses.

    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/genetics; Sarcocystis/isolation & purification
  7. Fulltext High prevalence of muscular sarcocystosis in cattle and water buffaloes from Selangor, Malaysia
    Latif B, Vellayan S, Heo CC, Kannan Kutty M, Omar E, Abdullah S, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2013 Dec;30(4):699-705.
    PMID: 24522140 MyJurnal
    The prevalence of sarcocystosis in cattle and water buffaloes from peninsular Malaysia was investigated in abattoirs in Selangor state, February, 2011, to March, 2012. Fresh muscle samples were collected from the tongue, heart, oesophagus, diaphragm and skeletal muscles of 102 cattle and 18 water buffaloes. Each sample was initially screened by light microscopy and then fixed for further histopathological analysis. Out of 120 animals examined, 49 (40.8%) harboured the microscopic type of Sarcocystis spp. The positivity rate for cattle was 36.2% and for water buffaloes 66.7%. In cattle, the organs highly infected were the skeletal muscles and diaphragm (27% each), followed by tongue and esophagus (24.3% each), and the heart (8%). In water buffaloes, the heart was most often infected (66.7%), followed by the oesophagus (50%) and skeletal muscle (33.3%); no sarcocysts were detected in the tongue and diaphragm. The shape of the sarcocyst was fusiform to oval with a mean cyst size of 151.66 x 75.83 μm and wall thickness of 2.47 μm in cattle, and 114 x 50.81 μm cyst size and the wall thickness of 1.11 μm in water buffaloes, consistent with Sarcocystis cruzi and Sarcocystis levinei, respectively. Remaining tissue from cattle was subjected to parasite specific 18S rRNA gene PCR and Sarcocystis cruzi was confirmed, at least exemplarily. The peripheral metrocytes and the banana-shaped bradyzoites (15.23 x 2.2 μm in cattle and 11.49 x 2.45 μm in water buffalo hosts) were easily recognized. In conclusion, a high positivity rate was found in Malaysian meat-producing animals with possible implications for meat consumption and human health.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/classification; Sarcocystis/cytology; Sarcocystis/genetics; Sarcocystis/isolation & purification*
  8. Fulltext Sarcocystis nesbitti causes acute, relapsing febrile myositis with a high attack rate: description of a large outbreak of muscular sarcocystosis in Pangkor Island, Malaysia, 2012
    Italiano CM, Wong KT, AbuBakar S, Lau YL, Ramli N, Syed Omar SF, et al.
    PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2014 May;8(5):e2876.
    PMID: 24854350 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002876
    From the 17th to 19th January 2012, a group of 92 college students and teachers attended a retreat in a hotel located on Pangkor Island, off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Following the onset of symptoms in many participants who presented to our institute, an investigation was undertaken which ultimately identified Sarcocystis nesbitti as the cause of this outbreak.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis
  9. Fulltext Sarcocystis nesbitti related autoimmune diffuse alopecia
    Ch’ng CC, Wong SM, Tan CT
    Neurology Asia, 2016;21(3):261-264.
    MyJurnal
    Background & Objective: Symptomatic sarcocystosis has been said to be rare until recent years, when there were reports of outbreaks of febrile myositis for travellers returning from the Malaysian island resorts. In 2012, an outbreak of Sarcocystis nesbitti infection involving 92 college students and staff occurred after returning from Pangkor Island, Malaysia. A few months after recovering from the febrile illness, some patients complained of hair loss. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, clinical features and outcome of this disorder.
    Methods: All patients who became sick in the outbreak were asked whether they had the hair loss. For those who had, they were interviewed with standard questionnaires, examined and investigated. Patients were followed-up via an online survey 2 years later.
    Results: Out of 89 patients who were ill, 19 patients (21.4%) complained of alopecia. The mean peak onset was 4 months after the initial illness. Eleven patients (57.9%) reported the hair fall of more than 100 per day. The other symptoms were itch 10 (52.6%), scaling 10 (52.6%), erythema 4 (21.1%), none had scarring. Eleven patients (57.8%) had positive antinuclear factor with high titre (speckled or nucleolar pattern). Two years after the event, 10 had complete or near complete spontaneous recovery, 1 had partial response and 1 had no improvement.
    Conclusions: A delayed transient diffuse alopecia is seen in close to half of patients with Sarcocystis nesbittiinfection. This high frequency of positive ANF suggested an immune-mediated mechanism.

    Study site: Dermatology Clinic, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC)
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis*
  10. Fulltext Outbreak of human infection with Sarcocystis nesbitti, Malaysia, 2012
    Abubakar S, Teoh BT, Sam SS, Chang LY, Johari J, Hooi PS, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2013 Dec;19(12):1989-91.
    PMID: 24274071 DOI: 10.3201/eid1912.120530
    An outbreak of fever associated with myalgia and myositis occurred in 2012 among 89 of 92 college students and teachers who visited Pangkor Island, Malaysia. The Sarcocystis nesbitti 18S rRNA gene and sarcocysts were obtained from muscle tissues of 2 students. Our findings indicate emergence of S. nesbitti infections in humans in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/classification*; Sarcocystis/genetics; Sarcocystis/isolation & purification
  11. Molecular evidence of Sarcocystis species in captive snakes in Japan
    Abe N, Matsubara K, Tamukai K, Miwa Y, Takami K
    Parasitol Res, 2015 Aug;114(8):3175-9.
    PMID: 26044884 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-015-4564-2
    Sarcocystis nesbitti, using snakes as the definitive host, is a causative agent of acute human muscular sarcocystosis in Malaysia. Therefore, it is important to explore the distribution and prevalence of S. nesbitti in snakes. Nevertheless, epizootiological information of S. nesbitti in snakes remains insufficient because few surveys have assessed Sarcocystis infection in snakes in endemic countries. In Japan, snakes are popular exotic pet animals that are imported from overseas, but the degree of Sarcocystis infection in them remains unclear. The possibility exists that muscular sarcocystosis by S. nesbitti occurs in contact with captive snakes in non-endemic countries. For a total of 125 snake faecal samples from 67 snake species collected at animal hospitals, pet shops and a zoo, this study investigated the presence of Sarcocystis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the 18S ribosomal RNA gene (18S rDNA). Four (3.2%) faecal samples were positive by PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rDNA sequences obtained from four amplification products revealed one isolate from a beauty snake (Elaphe taeniura), Sarcocystis zuoi, which uses rat snakes as the definitive host. The isolate from a Macklot's python (Liasis mackloti) was closely related with unidentified Sarcocystis sp. from reticulated pythons in Malaysia. The remaining two isolates from tree boas (Corallus spp.) were closely related with Sarcocystis lacertae, Sarcocystis gallotiae and unidentified Sarcocystis sp. from smooth snakes, Tenerife lizards and European shrews, respectively. This report is the first of a study examining the distribution of Sarcocystis species in captive snakes in Japan.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/genetics*
  12. Fulltext Initial patient cluster and first positive biopsy findings in an outbreak of acute muscular Sarcocystis-like infection in travelers returning from Tioman island, Peninsular Malaysia, in 2011
    Tappe D, Ernestus K, Rauthe S, Schoen C, Frosch M, Müller A, et al.
    J Clin Microbiol, 2013 Feb;51(2):725-6.
    PMID: 23224083 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.03063-12
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis
  13. Suspected new wave of muscular sarcocystosis in travellers returning from Tioman Island, Malaysia, May 2014
    Tappe D, Stich A, Langeheinecke A, von Sonnenburg F, Muntau B, Schäfer J, et al.
    Euro Surveill, 2014 May 29;19(21).
    PMID: 24906376
    In May 2014, six patients presented in Germany with a Sarcocystis-associated febrile myositis syndrome after returning from Tioman Island, Malaysia. During two earlier waves of infections, in 2011 and 2012, about 100 travellers returning to various European countries from the island were affected. While the first two waves were associated with travel to Tioman Island mostly during the summer months, this current series of infections is associated with travel in early spring, possibly indicating an upcoming new epidemic.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/isolation & purification*
  14. Cryptosporidium infection: epidemiology, clinical, diagnosis and management
    Sinniah, B., Sinniah, D.
    Malaysian Journal of Child Health, 1992;4(1):27-32.
    MyJurnal
    Cryptosporidium is an intestinal protozoan parasite which causes diarrhoea in animals and has recently been reported to cause similar symptoms in man. Cryptosporidiosis is a zoonotic infection and the first human case was reported in 1976.2 Since then the number of cases has increased by the hundreds especially among patients with acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS), as a result of the severe symptoms that they cause in the im-munosuppressed patients and also due to the better screening techniques which have been developed resulting in the detection of cases.3 To date 20 species of Cryptosporidium have been reported but these cannot be differentiated morphologically. The differences are based mainly on the host from which the parasites were recovered. The species responsible for causing infection in man is Cryptosporidium parvum.4 Of the 20 species reported several are invalid because the oocysts of some of them were found to be the same as the sporocyst of Sarcocystis. It is now concluded that there are only two species that infect mammals (C. Muris and C. parvum). (Copied from article).
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis
  15. Parasites of some rodents in Malaysia
    Sinniah B
    Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1979 Mar;10(1):115-21.
    PMID: 113889
    A total of 2,337 rodents trapped from various parts of Peninsular Malaysia were dissected and studied for the distribution and prevalence of parasitic infections. Four new rodent hosts for Sarcocystis in Malaysia are reported (Bandicota indica, Rattus sabanus Rattus argentiventer and Rattus norvegicus). Sarcocystis was found in 17.2 percent of the rodents examined. Rattus annandalei, Rattus tiomanicus and Rattus norvegicus are new hosts of Syphacia muris in Peninsular Malsysia. Rattus sabanus was found to be infected with Zonorchis borneonenis. Brachylaima ratti Baugh, 1962 was recovered from the small intestine of Rattus rattus diardii for the first time in Malaysia. The prevalence and distribution of other parasites are also discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/isolation & purification
  16. Ultrastructure of sarcocysts from water buffalo in India
    Dubey JP, Speer CA, Shah HL
    Vet Parasitol, 1989 Nov;34(1-2):149-52.
    PMID: 2511659
    The ultrastructure of sarcocysts of macro- and microscopic species of Sarcocystis was compared from naturally infected water buffalo from India. Grossly visible sarcocysts had walls consisting of cauliflower-like villar protrusions, typical of S. fusiformis. The sarcocyst wall of the microscopic species of Sarcocystis was 6.4 microns thick and consisted of tightly packed conical villar protrusions that were 9.6 microns long and 3.7 microns wide at the base. At approximately 3 microns above the base, the distal two-thirds of the villar protrusion became conical shaped and was bent laterally at an angle of 45 degrees to the sarcocyst surface. The granular layer beneath the villar protrusions was 0.9 microns thick. In S. levinei the granular layer was 1.9 microns thick, the villar protrusions were narrow and it had a highly undulating primary cyst wall. Whether the microscopic S. levinei-like sarcocysts of Indian and Malaysian water buffalo are distinct species of Sarcocystis will require further investigation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/ultrastructure*
  17. [Muscular sarcocystosis after travel to Malaysia: a case series from Germany]
    Slesak G, Tappe D, Keller C, Cramer J, Güthoff W, Zanger P, et al.
    Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr., 2014 May;139(19):990-5.
    PMID: 24782151 DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1370004
    Since 2011, about 100 travellers to the island of Tioman, Malaysia, have been diagnosed worldwide with suspected muscular sarcocystosis, a previously only sporadically observed parasitic disease. Source of infection and therapy remain unclear. Final diagnosis requires microscopic identification of cysts in muscle biopsies. The study objective was a systematic description of characteristic symptoms, laboratory investigations and treatment response.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/immunology
  18. Fulltext Human Invasive Muscular Sarcocystosis Induces Th2 Cytokine Polarization and Biphasic Cytokine Changes, Based on an Investigation among Travelers Returning from Tioman Island, Malaysia
    Tappe D, Slesak G, Pérez-Girón JV, Schäfer J, Langeheinecke A, Just-Nübling G, et al.
    Clin Vaccine Immunol, 2015 Jun;22(6):674-7.
    PMID: 25903356 DOI: 10.1128/CVI.00042-15
    Sarcocystis nesbitti is a parasite responsible for a biphasic eosinophilic febrile myositis syndrome in two recent outbreaks in Malaysia. We demonstrate Th2 cytokine polarization in infected travelers, an overall cytokine production decrease in the early phase of the disease suggestive of initial immunosuppression, and elevated levels of proinflammatory and chemotactic cytokines in the later myositic phase.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/immunology*
  19. Letter: Sarcocystis in the Malaysian long-tailed monkey, Macaca irus
    Prathap K
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 1973;67(4):615.
    PMID: 4206526
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis/isolation & purification*
  20. Sarcocystis myopathy in a patient with HIV-AIDS
    Anderson D, Nathoo N, Lu JQ, Kowalewska-Grochowska KT, Power C
    J Neurovirol, 2018 06;24(3):376-378.
    PMID: 29508303 DOI: 10.1007/s13365-018-0620-x
    Sarcocystosis is a zoonotic infection that causes intestinal and muscular illnesses in humans. Sarcocystosis was until recently considered rare in humans. To complete their life cycle, Sarcocystis species require both a definitive and an intermediate host. Humans are the definitive host when infected by one of two species: Sarcocystis hominis (from eating undercooked beef) or Sarcocystis suihominis (from eating uncooked pork). Infection with either of these species results in intestinal sarcocystosis, causing a self-limited disease characterized by nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Humans act as the intermediate host when infected by Sarcocystis nesbitti, resulting in the markedly different clinical picture of muscular sarcocystosis. Most documented cases of muscular sarcocystosis were assumed to be acquired in Malaysia, in addition to other regions of Southeast Asia and India. Published cases of muscular sarcocystosis from the Middle East, Central and South America, and Africa are all rare. Although the clinical presentation of muscular sarcocystosis remains to be fully characterized, fever, myalgia, and headache are among the most common symptoms. Here, we report a patient from sub-Saharan Africa with chronic Sarcocystis myopathy and well-controlled HIV-AIDS.
    Matched MeSH terms: Sarcocystis
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