Infestation usually occurs without significant health effects in the Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), but may affect cardiac function in some other host species.

[5] E. sagitta has been found in several African nations: Cameroon, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, and South Africa.

[8] A slaughterhouse survey in Swaziland yielded a very low prevalence–77 of 18,458 (0.416%) -- of bovine hearts showing lesions typical of E. sagitta infestation.

As one author points out, however, if the infested host is fleeing from a lion, only a minor difference in cardiopulmonary efficiency could certainly affect survival.

[8] In the Congo, E. sagitta infestation was suggested to be one of the factors which led to mortality in several bongos (Tragelaphus eurycerus) and one African Forest Buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus)[5]