BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is considered as one of the most important infections in ruminants. The flukes are found in the blood vessels of animals. This parasite has been observed in many countries such as: Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq and parts of Europe. OBJECTIVES: Aim of this study was to determine the contamination of Schistosoma turkestanicum in sheep in the central region of Mazandaran province during the year 2012-13. METHODS: Based on the high mortality rate reported by Mazandaran Veterinary Organization in some herds in the cities of the north of Iran During investigation 21.2% mortality was seen in infected herds by necropsy; Schistosoma turkestanicum was diagnosed  as cause of death. Examined infected herds and fecal samples were collected directly from the rectum of sheep.  Samples were examined by flotation method and obtained results were analyzed by statistical tests. RESULTS: During present study which was performed in five central cities of Mazandaran, the highest infection rate was found in Babolsar and the lowest was found in Moghrikola region of Babol. Mortality rate was also evaluated based on gender and it was shown that mortality rates in females were higher than in males (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Ornithobilharziosis, is considered one of the endemic diseases in some parts of Iran and several epidemics have occurred in recent years in Iran. Because this parasite causes  significant economic losses in herds of sheep and goat in Iran, due to its location in the ruminants body and because Mazandaran province is one of the important foci of infection, more attention of the veterinary organization and its institutions is needed for better and greater control of infection.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial bridge (MB) is generally defined as a superfacial muscular band that forms sporadic or multiple across the coronary artery in dog, cat, sheep, and human. OBJECTIVES: From the view of embryology MB is a preformatted structure with coronary artery during  forming. The type of study in human is during sonography and angiography examination, but in veterinary science the study on MB is  done after death examination. METHODS: This study was performed on over 50 sheep hearts that were prepared from slaughterhouse of Shahr e kord. First, pericardium was opened and the heart brought out of the pericardial cavity and then the hearts were studied with concentrated light and lens on both sides. After the M B recognition,  their length and width were measured by a ruler. In both sides of the heart,the MB was  divided into 1/3 proximal, 1/3 middle and 1/3 distal. In all of the studied hearts, only 10 samples (20%) had M B. RESULTS: The average length of recognised MBs was 1.55±1.17 (SD) cm and  with width of 1.09±.092 (SD) cm. The positive samples were transferred to histology laboratory for preparation of cross section of heart and were stained with  H&amp;E staining.CONCLUSIONS: The longitudinal section showed the long fibers of myocardium with continual narrow fibers and intercalated discs were located between them.

BACKGROUND: Sarcocystis infection is one of the most common zoonotic protozoon diseases caused by different Sarcocystis spp. Objectives: Due to the importance of this infection in public health, the infection rate of macroscopic and microscopic cysts in sheep and cattle of abattoir of Shahriar, was investigated. Methods: 138 slaughtered sheep and cattle were selected randomly and their esophagus, diaphragm, heart, tongue, masseter and intercostal muscles were separated. In order to find cysts, the samples were examined by two methods: direct observation for macroscopic cysts and finding microscopics cysts by smear dab, Giemsa staining and microscopic investigation for bradyzoites of parasite. Results: In slaughtered samples, there was no macroscopic cyst but microscopic cysts were positive in 93.48% of cattle and 86.95% of sheep by impression smear method. The results showed the significant difference between different muscles and microscopic cysts (p<0.05) .Heart and esophagus were the most infected and tongue was the least infected part. Infections in males were more than females in both sheep and cattle. There was no significant different in various ages of cattle, however, infection in sheep less than one year old, were higher than the other ages. ConclusionS: Due to the heavy Sarcocystis infection in meat of cattle and sheep and the importance of this parasite in public health, it is suggested to avoid eating raw and undercooked meat and conduct preventive measures such as closer inspection of carcasses and local or total removal of slaughtered in abattoir.