The effect of Antioxidant organic sulfur compounds on performance, prooxidant–antioxidant balance (PAB) of the Eimeria-infected broiler chickensBACKGROUND: Use of Garlic Powder (GP) and Total Sulfur Amino acid (TSAA) can improve redox status of broiler chickens fed with and infected by Eimeria and recover the negative effects of coccidiosis. OBJECTIVES: This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of GP and TSAA on feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and prooxidant–antioxidant balance (PAB) of the chickens challenged with Eimeria oocysts species mix. METHODS: A 2×2×2 split-plot-factorial arrangement of treatments was used. 400 day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were equally assigned to two plots (4 treatments each). Two hundred of the chickens were challenged with Eimeria oocysts species mix by oral inoculation at day 34 (infected plot) and the others were left as unchallenged (uninfected plot). In each plot, broiler chickens were randomly assigned to four treatments and fed one of following diets: basal diet, basal diet plus 0.5% GP, basal diet plus 50% more TSAA based on Ross 2009 recommendations, basal diet plus 0.5 % GP and 50% more TSAA based on Ross 2009 recommendations. RESULTS: The results showed that after inoculation birds with 7.5×102 Eimeria oocysts species mix significantly (p<0.05) reduced the FI to 20% and increased FCR to 14% and also increased serum PAB (p<0.05), especially for infected broilers that were fed with basal diet, however, supplementation of GP and TSAA were better for broiler chickens in infected plot than uninfected plot. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that addition of GP and TSAA to diet may recover the negative effects of coccidiosis  and  improve the performance and redox of broiler chickens infected by Eimeria.

BACKGROUND: Despite the use of prophylactic chemotherapy and vaccination, coccidiosis is still one of the most devastating diseases in poultry industry. Understanding the immune mechanism helps researchers to prevent this parasitic infection more effectively. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibody response in chickens, induced by a live attenuated vaccine (Livacox Q), before and after challenge, by means of ELISA. METHODS: One hundred and twenty one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly divided into 4 groups of 30 birds. In 4th day of age, half the birds were orally vaccinated. The challenged groups received the infective dose at 14th day of age via oral administration. Besides recording weight gain, lesion score and oocyst count in 21st day old birds, humoral immunity was assessed by means of ELISA on serum samples taken from 7 and 21day-old birds. Results: Three days post vaccination, the average of optical density (OD) showed significant difference between vaccinated (0.553) and unvaccinated (0.686) birds (p≤0.05). In 21 day-old birds, the OD of unvaccinated-unchallenged (negative control) groups (0.331) differed significantly with vaccinated-unchallenged (0.663) birds. The average of lesion score in vaccinated-challenged birds (2.22) showed significant dissimilarity with unvaccinated-challenged groups. No difference and correlation were observed in comparing average of weight gain and oocyst count with serum optical density among treatment and control groups. ConclusionS: The results indicated that ELISA can be used for evaluating immunity uniformity of a flock after vaccination. Besides inducing antibody responses comparable to challenge with wild oocysts, vaccination with live attenuated coccidiosis vaccines may have inhibitory effects in intestinal lesion scores which are responsible for pathogenesis and economic loss during coccidial infections.

Coccidiosis is a major parasitic disease that affects domestic fowl, turkeys, ducks, and geese around the world. It is caused by protozoan parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa originating from the genus Eimeria. This study was recommended due to the lack of data on chicken Eimeria species in the Kurdistan region. There are nine recorded species of Eimeria in chickens, E.tenella is the most common coccidia in poultry, which is distinguished by its easily identifiable injuries and significant losses in early broilers and pullet layers. The research examined naturally infected broiler chicks aged between 3 and 6 weeks with Eimeria tenella. The samples were taken from caecal content and examined by standard methods such as necropsy and microscopic examinations. Microscopic examination revealed a large number of coccidian oocysts in the caecal content. Histopathological analysis showed severe sloughing of the lining mucosa with haemorrhage and necrosis, along with the presence of different stages of Eimeria, including oocytes, macrogametes, microgametes and schizonts in the submucosal layer. Haematoxylin and eosin staining facilitated a histopathological study on the affected caecum tissue. The study highlights an important stage that streamlines parasite isolation for molecular diagnosis by directly using cecum samples for DNA extraction. This method allows molecular diagnostic procedures to be completed more efficiently, regardless of the parasite&rsquo;s stage.

In Malaysia, helminthiasis due to strongyles such as Haemonchuscontortus and coccidiosis caused by Eimeria sp. have been reported to cause severe economic losses in small ruminants livestock industry. This paper reports the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasite infections on small ruminants situated in Seberang Perai Selatan district, Penang. Faecal samples were obtained from a total of 193 animals,randomly selected from 14 ruminant farms. The results of this survey indicates that helminthiasis and coccidiosis is rampant insheep and goat farms. The most common infections diagnosed were helminthiasis (77.72%) and coccidiosis (60.10%) followedby Moniezia sp. (5.18%). From this study, it shows that parasitic diseases can be managed by good animal husbandryin farms since high parasitic infections were observed in farms that were poorly managed based on nutrition, hygiene andbasic animal husbandry practices. The smallholders depended on health and extension services from the State Veterinary Department. A continuous monitoring of small ruminant farms by the Department of Veterinary Services will provide important information for assisting farmers with managing the spread of parasitic infections and maintaining the productivity of animals.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of the herb and Urtica dioica of the vitality of the Eimeria tenella, it conducted on 150 Ross broiler chicks, divided randomly on the seventh days into six groups. The last two groups (five and six) were considered as a positive and negative control groups, the first five groups were experimentally infected by 1000 oocysts/bird of Eimeria tenella at 17 days old directly in to the crop. The first four groups were given Artemisia herba alba and Urtica dioica According to concentrations for each group. Results were indicated a higher significant differences ( P

Cell culture systems for the protozoan Eimeria are not yet available. The present study was conducted to develop an animal model system by inoculating animals with a live Eimeria vaccine. This study was conducted on 3-day-old chickens (n = 20) pretreated with cyclophosphamide. The chickens were divided into 2 groups: the control group (n = 10) and the inoculated group that received the live Eimeria vaccine (n = 10). During the study period, we compared the clinical signs, changes in body weight, and number of oocysts shed in the feces of the control and inoculated group. This study showed that oocyst shedding was significantly higher in the chickens inoculated with live Eimeria oocysts than in the control chickens. Moreover, body weight gain was lesser in the animals in the inoculated group than in the control animals. Fecal oocyst shedding was observed in the inoculated animals. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that live Eimeria vaccination with cyclophosphamide pretreatment may be used to obtain an effective animal model for studying protozoan infections. This animal study model may eliminate the need for a tedious continuous animal inoculation process every 6 months because the live coccidiosis vaccine contains live oocysts.

To study increase of the Salmonella population in the cecum of chickens infected with Eimeria tenella, quantitative changes in mannose residues on the cecal mucosa were investigated. Inhibition of S typhimurium adherence to the cecum by a 2% carbohydrate (D-mannose, D-galactose, L-fucose, alpha-methyl-D-glucoside) in phosphate-buffered saline solution was examined. Only D-mannose had inhibitory effects. Whereas, D-galactose had somewhat enhancing effects on adherence of S typhimurium to the cecal mucosa of uninfected germ-free chickens. In infected and uninfected chickens, D-mannose inhibited adherence of S typhimurium. D-mannose significantly (P < 0.05) increased adherence of Bacteroides sp. In infected and uninfected chickens, D-mannose did not have any effect on adherence of Clostridium perfringens and Bifidobacterium thermophilum. Under microscopic observation, only concanavalin A and Lens culinaris agglutinin, of 8 lectins examined, were recognized as lectin-positive staining lines or spots in the cecal mucosa, indicating presence of mannose residues on the cecal mucosa. In E tenella-infected chickens, lectin-positive staining was seen strongly on the coarse surface of damaged cells and at the bottom of the crypts. These results indicate that coccidial infection may induce increase of mannose residues on the intestinal surface and allow adhesion of more salmonellae to the intestine.

When Salmonella typhimurium and Clostridium perfringens were tested in conventional chickens, larger numbers of S typhimurium and C perfringens adhered to Eimeria tenella-infected ceca than to uninfected ceca. In germ-free chickens, S typhimurium and C perfringens adhered to the E tenella-infected cecal mucosa more than to the uninfected cecal mucosa, but fewer Bacteroides vulgatus and Bifidobacterium thermophilum adhered to the E tenella-infected ceca than to the uninfected ceca. Many bacteria adhered to the lesions caused by E tenella as observed by scanning electron microscopy. On the basis of our findings, we suggest that infection with E tenella upsets the balance of competitive adherence of bacteria, allowing more colonization of S typhimurium and C perfringens.

Sixteen 7-week-old Holstein male calves were inoculated with sporulated oocysts of Eimeria zuernii. Four calves (controls) were euthanatized and necropsied at 14 and 20 days after inoculation (DAI). Two calves were treated with 20 mg of dexamethasone (IM) on 13, 14, and 15 DAI and euthanatized and necropsied 17 DAI and 2 calves were given similar treatments and necropsied 20 DAI. The 8 other calves were euthanatized and necropsied 20 DAI. Two were started on the anticoccidial drug decoquinate in feed 13 DAI; 2 others were given decoquinated on the same schedule plus dexamethasone on 13, 14, and 15 DAI. Two calves were given the antibiotic narasin in feed beginning 13 DAI and 2 calves were given parasin on the same schedule plus dexamethasone on 13, 14, and 15 DAI. All calves, except 2 controls necropsied 14 DAI and 4 calves given decoquinate, discharged moderate-to-large numbers of oocysts in feces and had moderate-to-severe changes in fecal consistency. Histologic examintions revealed large numbers of endogenous stages in tissues of calves treated or not treated with dexamethasone. Few endogenous stages were observed in tissues from calves that were given decoquinate or decoquinate plus dexamethasone. Calves given narasin or narasin plus dexamethasone had moderate-to-large numbers of endogenous stages in the tissues.