HEMATOLOGICAL STUDIES OF RABBITS EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WITH EIMERIA

Abstract

We studied blood samples from 48 rabbits aged 3 months. The hematological studies were performed in the Alphalab Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (blood samples were taken from the jugular vein of the rabbits) and the Laboratory of General Helminthology and Parasitology of the Institute of Zoology of the Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of the Armenian NAS (blood samples were taken from the peripheral ear vein of the rabbits). We studied healthy (control) and artificially infected (with coccidia) giant and Californian rabbits. A comparative analysis of blood cells was also performed for the rabbits infected with Eimeria. The experiment results showed that all morphological blood parameters of the giant and Californian rabbits with intense infection by coccidiosis pathogens changed significantly (p<0.05–0.001). A comparative analysis of quantitative indicators of blood cells in the infected rabbits showed that the most heavily infected animals had significantly reduced erythrocytes (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), leukocytes (WBC), lymphocytes (LYMPH) and monocytes (MONO), while segmented neutrophils (NEUT), eosinophils (EO) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) increased significantly. The blood parameters of the healthy rabbits were within normal limits.