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Zoonotic Sarcocystis Found in 3.3% of Polish Wild Boar Hunted for Food

Wild boar near Łódź, Poland
Research: Disease, parasites & microbiology, Genetics & genomics

The zoonotic protozoan parasite Sarcocystis suihominis was detected in 3.3% of 241 wild boar (Sus scrofa) hunted for human consumption across Poland, while DNA from Sarcocystis miescheriana was found in 90%. Sarcocystis are single-celled parasites that form tissue cysts in intermediate hosts. The animals came from all 16 Polish provinces and were sampled during the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 hunting seasons.

Wild boar are intermediate hosts

Wild boar are intermediate hosts in the two parasites’ life cycles. Canids can serve as definitive hosts for S. miescheriana, whereas humans can become definitive hosts for S. suihominis after eating raw or undercooked infected meat. Human intestinal sarcocystosis is usually asymptomatic or mild, but can cause gastrointestinal symptoms.

DNA testing found two known species — and one unusual cyst

The researchers screened diaphragm tissue with a multiplex PCR, a DNA test that can search for both target species in the same analysis, using the mitochondrial cox1 gene as a species marker. S. miescheriana DNA was detected in 216 of 241 boar, including eight animals that were also positive for S. suihominis. From three coinfected boar, the team isolated 37 individual sarcocysts. Two were confirmed as S. suihominis, while 12 of 13 additional cysts selected for molecular characterisation were identified as S. miescheriana.

The remaining characterised cyst was genetically unusual. Its 1,053-base-pair cox1 sequence showed less than 89.1% similarity to known Sarcocystis species, while a 923-base-pair 18S rDNA sequence — a second genetic marker used for species relationships — showed 95.6% similarity. Taken together, the two markers were sufficiently different from known species for the authors to describe the cyst as a putative new Sarcocystis species rather than a formally established species.

A foodborne risk cannot be excluded

This is the first study to identify these Sarcocystis parasites in wild boar intended for human consumption in Poland. Routine meat inspection, including testing aimed at Trichinella, does not usually detect sarcocysts. The authors therefore conclude that a foodborne risk from S. suihominis cannot be excluded for people who eat raw or insufficiently cooked wild boar meat.

Sources and image credit

  1. Korpysa-Dzirba, W., Rubiola, S., Bilska-Zając, E., Chiesa, F., Różycki, M., Bełcik, A., Samorek-Pieróg, M., Lovisolo, S., Prakas, P., Baranauskaitė, A., Karamon, J., Sroka, J., & Cencek, T. (2026). Molecular Detection of Sarcocystis suihominis and Sarcocystis miescheriana in Wild Boars Hunted for Human Consumption in Poland Highlights a Potential Risk for the Consumer. Zoonoses and Public Health.Primary open-access article first published 7 September 2026; full text checked. Diaphragm samples from 241 wild boar from all 16 Polish provinces were tested by multiplex PCR targeting mtDNA cox1. S. miescheriana DNA was detected in 216 animals (90%), including eight (3.3%) also positive for zoonotic S. suihominis. Sequencing of cox1 and 18S rDNA from one unusual cyst supported its interpretation as a putative undescribed Sarcocystis species.

Image: Wild boar (Sus scrofa) on the outskirts of Łódź, Poland, 7 June 2010. Photo: Jerzy Strzelecki / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 3.0. Representative Polish species image; not an animal from the Sarcocystis study. · CC BY 3.0 · Source

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