Avian coccidiosis is an important parasitic disease affecting poultry and causes high economic losses in poultry industry, which acts as an important sector in the Egyptian national income. It is caused by genus Eimeria that belongs to subphylum apicomplexa. It affects domestic pigeons causing great losses, particularly in squabs. So, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Eimeria species infecting domestic pigeons (Columbia livia) in Minia province. Intestines of 400 domestic pigeons collected from various poultry butcher shops as well as 103 pooled fecal samples of household pigeons were microscopically examined by the flotation technique. The recovered oocysts were morphologically identified. The overall prevalence of Eimeria species infection was 27.0% (108/400) and 72.82% (75/103) in the intestinal and pooled fecal samples respectively. Seasonally, the highest infection rate in the pooled fecal samples was in both spring and autumn (80.0%), while the lowest was in summer (56.0%). Meanwhile, the infection rate of the intestinal samples was the highest in winter (33.33%) and the lowest in autumn (20.0%). Moreover, The monthly infection rate of intestinal samples revealed that September and April had the highest rates;(55.0% and 41.62%). However, no infection rates were found in October and November, while monthly infection rate of fecal samples recorded that January and February showed 100% infection rate. Meanwhile, March and August, showed the lowest rate of infection 28.57% and 42.86% respectively. The morphological identification revealed the presence of four Eimeria species, Eimeria labbeana, E. columbarum E.columbae and E.labbeana-like, in pigeons in Minia province. Further studies are recommended to investigate the life cycle and molecular differentiation of Eimeria species infecting domestic birds.

Objective: This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Trichomonas gallinae infection in pigeon and determination of spatial factors related with T. gallinae infection among smallholder farms at Abhaynagar and Monirampur Upazillas, Jessore District, Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study has undertaken from November 24, 2017 to February 28, 2018 on randomly selected 60 pigeons from 12 smallholder farms. Wet smear technique has been used to identify T. gallinae, from swab samples collected from oropharynx and crop of the sampled birds. Results: The overall prevalence was 60% (95% CI: 46.572.4) in which 75% (95% CI: 55.189.3), 50% (95% CI: 23.076.9), and 44.4% (95% CI: 21.569.2) were in squab, adult male, and adult female, respectively. The prevalence, in the case of dead pigeons (n = 13), 69.2% showed positive to the protozoan infection in the study. On the basis of spatial distribution, T. gallinae infection in the rural area was 64% (n = 25) followed by urban area 57.1% (n = 35) of the district. The prevalence of T. gallinae was insignificantly higher at Abhaynagar upazilla in contrast to Monirampur upazilla (30%) of Jessore district. Conclusion: This research finding suggests that a significant level of (57.4%) T. gallinae infection is circulating among the pigeon population of Bangladesh. Therefore, proper housing, feeding, and disease management should be ensured by the owner to prevent this problem. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2019; 6(4.000): 549-552]

OBJECTIVE: To determine the pharmacokinetics of a single oral dose of trazodone and its effect on the activity of domestic pigeons (Columba livia). ANIMALS: 6 healthy adult male domestic pigeons. PROCEDURES: During the first of 3 experiments, birds received orally administered trazodone at doses ranging from 3 to 30 mg/kg to determine the dose for subsequent experiments. During the second experiment, each bird received 1 dose of trazodone (30 mg/kg, PO). Blood was collected for determination of plasma trazodone concentration before and at predetermined times for 24 hours after drug administration. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by noncompartmental analysis. During experiment 3, birds were instrumented with ultralightweight accelerometers and received orally administered trazodone (30 mg/kg) or an equal volume of water twice at a 48-hour interval. Activity of birds was monitored for 24 hours after administration of each treatment. RESULTS: No adverse effects were observed. Mean ± SD terminal half-life of trazodone was 5.65 ± 1.75 hours. Plasma trazodone concentrations remained > 0.130 μg/mL for approximately 20 hours. Trazodone did not affect the activity of birds during the first 2 and 15 hours after administration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggested that oral administration of 1 dose (30 mg/kg) of trazodone to healthy pigeons was safe and resulted in plasma drug concentrations that were similar to those considered therapeutic in humans and dogs for up to 20 hours. Further research is necessary to characterize the pharmacokinetics for repeated doses as well as the clinical effects of trazodone in birds with behavior problems.