The study was carried at Mirha Exports private limited at Mohali, Punjab, from December 2012 to May 2013 during which 1000 buffaloes of 2-3 years of age slaughtered for meat purposes were screened for the Sarcocystis species. Most of the animals examined at anti-mortem appeared normal and clinically healthy. However, at slaughtering, the gross and microscopic examination of representative samples of striated muscles collected from slaughtered buffaloes revealed 95.50 % prevalence of Sarcocystis species. Out of 1000 samples examined, 955 samples (95.55 %) were infected with microscopic cysts with size ranging from 19.1 to 95.9 × 10.2 to 68.9 μm cyst, while 6 samples (0.60 %) had mixed infection with macroscopic cyst with size ranging from 1270 to 19,000 × 700 to 7000 μm cyst of white or creamy colour and microscopic cysts. Among the muscles infected with cysts, highest number of cysts were recorded in tongue muscles (87.40 %) followed by oesophageal muscles (83.60 %), cardiac muscles (53 %) and diaphragmatic muscles (31.30 %).
Keywords: Buffalo; Mohali Punjab; Prevalence; Sarcocystis.