Avian Coccidiosis: An interview with Dr. Héctor Cervantes

• The “sporogony” stage is the only one that takes place outside the chicken, on the litter of the chicken house.
• The other two life cycle stages take place inside the chicken, specifically in the intestinal tract. They are known as schizogony and gametogony.

It is important to remember that each round of parasite multiplication results in the destruction of numerous intestinal epithelial cells which serves to explain the adverse effect of coccidiosis on nutrient absorption and performance.

What is the importance of coccidia for the poultry industry?

For the past several years, coccidiosis, at least in the U.S., has been ranked as the most important disease of chickens and other poultry. Although most infections are subclinical, the infection of the intestinal tract results in extensive destruction of intestinal epithelial cells resulting in poor absorption of nutrients, this, in turn,

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