Abstract
Coccidiosis is a serious disease affecting poultry. It is caused by a protozoan parasite of genus Eimeria that occupies the intestinal tract, causes tissue damage, and results in interruption of feeding and high mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different types of coccidial vaccines on the prevention of coccidiosis in chicken under field conditions. Chicks (n = 12; one-day-old; Avian-48 broiler) were randomly divided into 6 groups (G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, and G6), each group contained 20 chicks. The negative (G3) and positive (G6) control groups were non-vaccinated, while the remaining groups (G1, G2, G4, and G5) were vaccinated by live attenuated vaccine A (precocious strains, G1 and G4) and live non-attenuated vaccine B (wild strains, G2 and G5). G4-G6 were challenged on the 28th day by 1 x 105 sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella. The feed conversion rate (FCR), body weight gain (BWG), oocyst shedding, lesion score, oocyst index, and histopathology were observed and recorded in all groups. Vaccinated challenged groups (G4 and G5) had significantly lower FCR, oocyst count, and oocyst index but with higher BWG than the non-vaccinated challenged group (G6). Interestingly, G4 and G5 had lower lesion scores with no mortality as compared to G6 which showed 10% mortality. This study concludes that the usage of the anti-coccidial vaccine has significant protective efficacies in broilers with great potential with attenuated strain vaccine.
Highlights
Coccidiosis is one of the most important and dangerous diseases affecting poultry production
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different types of coccidial vaccines on the prevention of coccidiosis in chicken under field conditions
The worldwide intensive use of anticoccidial drugs to prevent coccidiosis has inevitably led to the development of resistance to all anticoccidial drugs as long-term exposure to any drug will result in loss of sensitivity
Summary
Coccidiosis is one of the most important and dangerous diseases affecting poultry production. Most infections are relatively mild, but because of the potential for the disastrous outbreak and the resulting financial loss, almost all young poultry are given continuous medication with low levels of anti-coccidial drugs, which prevent the infection or reduce to a low immunizing level (Hafez, 2008). Despite the widespread occurrence of resistance, at least in Europe, coccidiosis outbreaks seem to have had a limited impact so far. This is explained by the fact that resistance in many cases has allowed the occurrence of trickle infections, which are essential in the building up of immunity (McDougald and Shirley, 2009). Resistance to sulfaquinoxaline, nitrofurazone plus furazolidone, amprolium, clopidol, nicarbazin, sodium sulphadimethyl pyrimidine, and maduramicin in various field isolates of Eimeria spp. has been reported from north India (Agarwal et al, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
