Diseases and Parasites
The scimitar oryx can be infected with cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic disease caused by Cryptosporidium species, a protozoan parasite in the phylum Apicomplexa. In a study, it was found that 155 species of mammals were infected by C. parvum (including scimitar oryx), but it was not clear whether it was only this parasite or some other. Again, in an analysis of stool samples in 100 mammals, which included scimitar oryx, Cryptosporidium parasites were found. Oocysts of a new parasite, Eimeria oryxae, have been discovered from feces of a scimitar oryx, from Zoo Garden in Riyadh. Streptococcus uberis was isolated for the first time in an oryx at France, which had caused vegetative endocarditis in the animal. It led to fatal congestive heart failure.
In a study the blood serum chemistry values were studied in this species. Blood samples from fifty oryx, ages ranging from neonates to adults over 13-years-old, were taken from the jugular vein. It was concluded that the higher eosinophil counts of the juveniles and adults possibly reflect larger internal parasite burdens in them as compared with the neonates.
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