investigating the amount of sarcocyst parasite infection in the slaughtered sheep of the industrial slaughterhouse of torbat-e heydarieh city by macroscopic and microscopic methods

Sarcocystis is a protozoan parasite that infects mammals and other animals, the purpose of this study is to investigate the degree of contamination of slaughtered sheep in the industrial slaughterhouse of torbet-e heydarieh city with sarcocyst parasite by macroscopic and microscopic methods. in this descriptive-cross-sectional study, the carcasses of 100 sheep that were slaughtered in the industrial slaughterhouse of torbat-e heydarieh city were examined by macroscopic and digestive methods. in the first stage, the heart, diaphragm and skeletal muscles of the slaughtered animals were inspected macroscopically (visually) for the presence of sarcocystis cysts, and in the second stage, the same organs were examined by digestion and staining methods with the help of a microscope. from the number of 100 examined sheep, 64% of the myocardial organ (28%), diaphragm (32%) and skeletal muscles (4%) were involved in the macroscopic examination, and 86% of the myocardial organ (80%) were involved in the microscopic examination. diaphragm (90%) and skeletal muscles (90%) were involved, which showed a significant difference between the prevalence of microscopic and macroscopic cysts (p<0.05)؛ in age groups from 1 to 4 years, it was 25%, 87.5%, 63.15%, and 73.33% respectively in macroscopic examination, and 37.5%, 81.81%, and 100% in microscopic examination, respectively. and it was 100% that a significant difference was shown in these two surveys at different ages (p<0.05)؛ the rate of contamination with macroscopic cysts was 60% in males and 68% in females and 88% in males and 84% in females in the microscopic examination, and no significant difference was seen between these two examinations and the gender of the animal (p>0.05). the digestive method is the most sensitive method for detecting sarcocystis in livestock meat, and due to the high prevalence of sarcocystis infection, measures should be taken to prevent it.