Sobre la frecuencia de la sarcosporidiosis en los cerdos españoles

Abstract

The little information which we have about the nature of the Sarcosporidios makes it advisable to study them as protozoa of uncertain scientific classification. In a study about the frequency of sarcosporidiosis in the two most common porcine races in Spain, it was found that the infection is more frequent in the Iberic stocks (34'1%) than in the Celtic ones (31'9%), considering that the cause of this phenomenon lies in the fact that more aged specimens (18 to 24 months) ares slangtered for their poor precocity while the whites are shipped to the slaughterhauses when they are beween nine and fifteen months old. This opinion is backed up by the comparison of the positive preparation percentage encoutered in the one and the other case (14'1% in the whites and 10'8% in the red and blacks), as well as by the number of parasites found in each preparation which has always been superior in those of the whites. In view of the different systems of explotation in operation for both races, it is concluded that the feeding and boarding problem of the animals plays and important role in determining the conditions for such comparisons.