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Volume 19, Number 12—December 2013
Etymologia

Etymologia: Sarcocystis nesbitti

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Sarcocystis nesbitti [sahrʺko-sisʹtis nez-bitʹē]

In 1843, Swiss scientist Friedrich Miescher found “milky white threads” in the muscles of a mouse, which for years were known as“Miescher’s tubules.” In 1882, Lankester named the parasite Sarcocystis, from the Greek sarx (flesh) and kystis (bladder). Scientists were unsure whether to classify the species as protozoa or as fungi because only the sarcocyst stage had been identified. In 1967, crescent-shaped structures typically found in protozoa were seen in sarcocyst cultures, and it was determined to be a protozoan, a close relative of Toxoplasma spp. In 1969, A. M. Mandour described a new species of Sarcocystis in rhesus macaques, which he named Sarcocystis nesbitti, after Mr. P. Nesbitt, who saw the trophozoites in stained smears. Snakes are now known to be the definitive hosts of S. nesbitti, and several primates, including humans, can be intermediate hosts.

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References

  1. Dubey  JP, Speer  CA, Fayer  R. Sarcocystosis of animals and man. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press, Inc; 1989.
  2. Fayer  R. Sarcocystis spp. in human infections. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2004;17:894902 . DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Lau  YL, Chang  PY, Subramaniam  V, Ng  YH, Mahmud  R, Ahmad  AF, Genetic assemblage of Sarcocystis spp. in Malaysian snakes. Parasit Vectors. 2013;6:257.
  4. Mandour  AM. Sarcocystis nesbitti n. sp. from the rhesus monkey. J Protozool. 1969;16:3534 and. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar

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Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid1912.et1912

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Page created: November 19, 2013
Page updated: November 19, 2013
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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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