Studies on the Relationship between Besnoitia of Blue Wildebeest

Until fairly recently there was little incentive to speculate on the evolutionary history of Besnoitia besnoiti (Marotel, 1912) because the parasite had not been encountered occurring naturally in animals other than cattle. The recent discovety of Besnoitia cysts occurring mainly in the cardiovascular system of blue wildebeest [Connochaetes taurinus (Burchell, 1823)], impala [Aepyceros melampus (Lichtenstein, 1812)], and a kudu [Tragelaphus strepsiceros (Pallas, 1766)] in the Kruger National Park, provided vistas of new concepts on mter alta the evolution, epizootiology and pathogenesis of the disease (Basson, Van Niekerk, McCully & Bigalke, 1965; McCully, Basson, Van Niekerk & Bigalke, 1966). In these antelopes the majority of cysts were found in the peripheral veins of the limbs and neck, in which they were attached somewhat loosely to the intima.