Table: Natural hosts and geographic distribution of Besnoitia spp-MSD Veterinary Manual

Natural hosts and geographic distribution of Besnoitia spp

Species	Intermediate hosts	Definitive hosts	Geographic distribution
B besnoiti	Bovine, antelope (Aepyceros melampus), impala, blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)	Unknown^e	Africa, Asia, Europe, and Venezuela
B bennetti	Donkey (Equus africanus asinus), horse (E ferus caballus) and zebra (E zebra, E quagga, E grevyi)	Unknown^e	Africa, Asia, US, and France
B caprae	Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus)	Unknown^e	Iran and Kenya
B tarandi	Muskox (Ovibos moschatus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)	Unknown^e	Canada, Finland, Russia, and Sweden
B akodoni	Akodon motensis^a	Unknown	Brazil^f
B jellisoni	Dipodomys sppa, Peromyscus maniculatus^a	Unknown	US
B darlingi	Ameiva^b, Basiliscus^b, Didelphis marsupialis^c	Cat (Felis catus)	US and Panama
B neotomofelis	Neotoma micropus^a	Cat (Felis catus)	US^g
B oryctofelisi	Oryctolagus cuniculus^d	Cat (Felis catus)	Argentina^h
B wallacei	Rattus exulansa	Cat (Felis catus)	Australia, Hawaii, Japan, and Kenya
^arodent ^breptile ^cmarsupial ^dlagomorph ^eA carnivorous definitive host is suspected for B besnoiti. One study (Peteshev VM, Galuzo IG, Polomoshnov AP. Cats—definitive hosts of Besnoitia (Besnoitia besnoiti). Izvest Akad Nauk Kazakh Ser Biol 1974;1:33–38) suggested the role of felids as definitive hosts. However, extensive studies carried out by other authors have been inconclusive. ^fDubey JP, Sreekumar C, Lindsay DS, Hill D, Rosenthal BM, Venturini L, Venturini MC, Greiner EC. Besnoitia oryctofelisi n. sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from domestic rabbits. Parasitology. 2003 Jun;126(Pt 6):521-39. PMID: 12879849. ^gDubey JP, Yabsley MJ. Besnoitia neotomofelis n. sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from the southern plains woodrat ( Neotoma micropus). Parasitology. 2010 Oct;137(12):1731-47. doi: 10.1017/S0031182010000636. Epub 2010 Jun 21. PMID: 20561393. ^hDubey JP, Sreekumar C, Rosenthal BM, Lindsay DS, Grisard EC, Vitor RW. Biological and molecular characterization of Besnoitia akodoni n.sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from the rodent Akodon montensis in Brazil. Parassitologia. 2003 Jun;45(2):61-70. PMID: 15266998.

Species

Intermediate hosts

Definitive hosts

Geographic distribution

B besnoiti

Bovine, antelope (Aepyceros melampus), impala, blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

Unknown^e

Africa, Asia, Europe, and Venezuela

B bennetti

Donkey (Equus africanus asinus), horse (E ferus caballus) and zebra (E zebra, E quagga, E grevyi)

Unknown^e

Africa, Asia, US, and France

B caprae

Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus)

Unknown^e

Iran and Kenya

B tarandi

Muskox (Ovibos moschatus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

Unknown^e

Canada, Finland, Russia, and Sweden

B akodoni

Akodon motensis^a

Unknown

Brazil^f

B jellisoni

Dipodomys sppa, Peromyscus maniculatus^a

Unknown

B darlingi

Ameiva^b, Basiliscus^b, Didelphis marsupialis^c

Cat (Felis catus)

US and Panama

B neotomofelis

Neotoma micropus^a

Cat (Felis catus)

US^g

B oryctofelisi

Oryctolagus cuniculus^d

Cat (Felis catus)

Argentina^h

B wallacei

Rattus exulansa

Cat (Felis catus)

Australia, Hawaii, Japan, and Kenya

^arodent

^breptile

^cmarsupial

^dlagomorph

^eA carnivorous definitive host is suspected for B besnoiti. One study (Peteshev VM, Galuzo IG, Polomoshnov AP. Cats—definitive hosts of Besnoitia (Besnoitia besnoiti). Izvest Akad Nauk Kazakh Ser Biol 1974;1:33–38) suggested the role of felids as definitive hosts. However, extensive studies carried out by other authors have been inconclusive.

^fDubey JP, Sreekumar C, Lindsay DS, Hill D, Rosenthal BM, Venturini L, Venturini MC, Greiner EC. Besnoitia oryctofelisi n. sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from domestic rabbits. Parasitology. 2003 Jun;126(Pt 6):521-39. PMID: 12879849.

^gDubey JP, Yabsley MJ. Besnoitia neotomofelis n. sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from the southern plains woodrat ( Neotoma micropus). Parasitology. 2010 Oct;137(12):1731-47. doi: 10.1017/S0031182010000636. Epub 2010 Jun 21. PMID: 20561393.

^hDubey JP, Sreekumar C, Rosenthal BM, Lindsay DS, Grisard EC, Vitor RW. Biological and molecular characterization of Besnoitia akodoni n.sp. (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) from the rodent Akodon montensis in Brazil. Parassitologia. 2003 Jun;45(2):61-70. PMID: 15266998.