Contenido disponible en: Español (Spanish)
During this interview with Dr. Hector Cervantes, we will focus on the plans to successfully control coccidia and current challenges in the poultry industry. A good coccidiosis prevention plan must have a good scientific foundation and consider numerous aspects, including management, such as the type of housing, litter, ventilation, population density, the season of the year, etc.
Dr. Cervantes, Could you explain what is coccidia, how it is transmitted, and the life cycle?
Coccidia is the common term used to describe single-celled protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria that are responsible for causing the most common disease of chickens and other poultry: “coccidiosis”.
- Coccidia are transmitted via the oral-fecal route. The eggs of the parasite are known as oocysts and are excreted in the feces of infected birds, when the oocysts are first excreted in the feces they are not sporulated and therefore not infective.
However, with the right conditions of O2, temperature and relative humidity in the litter (Up to 24 hours) they quickly develop into the infective form through a process known as sporulation in which each oocysts produces 4 sporocysts each containing 2 sporozoites which when ingested by a bird infect the intestinal tract resulting in the disease known as coccidiosis.
It is a complicated life cycle involving 3 stages,
- 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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