Abstract
Aim:Coccidiosis is an important enteric parasitic disease of poultry associated with significant economic losses to poultry farmers worldwide. This survey was conducted from June 2014 through July 2015 with the main goal of investigating the prevalence and associated risk factors of coccidiosis among village and exotic breeds of chickens in Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria.Materials and Methods:A total of 600 fecal samples from live and slaughtered birds comprising 284 young, 141, growers and 175 adult birds; 379 male and 221 female birds; 450 exotic and 150 local breeds of birds were randomly collected either as bird’s fresh droppings or cutting open an eviscerated intestine of slaughtered birds, while noting their age, sex, and breeds. Samples were analyzed using standard parasitological methods and techniques.Results:An overall prevalence rate of 31.8% (95% confidence interval: 28.07-35.52) was obtained. Higher prevalence rates were recorded in growing birds 58.9% (50.78-67.02), female birds 35.3% (29.00-41.60), exotic birds 42.4% (37.83-46.97), and broiler birds 68.7% (61.28-76.12). Similarly, higher infection rates were also observed among birds sampled from Mairi ward 66.7% (56.03-77.37), intensive management system 46.5% (41.61-51.39), and constructed local cages 54.0% (46.02-61.98). The difference in prevalence of coccidiosis among age groups, breeds, among exotic breeds, sampling sites, husbandry management systems, and litter management systems was statistically significant (<0.0001). However, no significant difference (p>0.05) of infection rates was observed in sex.Conclusion:Coccidiosis is endemic in both commercial and backyard poultry farms in Maiduguri due to poor management practices encouraging Eimeria oocysts build-up. It is therefore, recommended that poultry farmers should practice strict biosecurity measures on their farms, creating awareness on the prevalence of coccidiosis, routine vaccination against coccidiosis and educating poultry farmers on the need for maintaining good hygienic standards and good flock health management.
Highlights
In Nigeria like in most developing nations, chickens are the most important class of the poultry species in terms of number and rate of investment in poultry production [1]
It should be borne in mind that incidence of coccidiosis is high in highly humid geographical areas explaining the higher prevalences reported in different parts of Nigeria
We reported no coccidian infection in birds sampled from University of Maiduguri (UM) research poultry farms - where birds were kept in battery cages and the village chickens sampled from the various poultry dressing slabs (Table-2)
Summary
In Nigeria like in most developing nations, chickens are the most important class of the poultry species in terms of number and rate of investment in poultry production [1]. Poultry’s meat and eggs continue to be the major sources of protein for the rapidly expanding population worldwide. This is due to low production costs as compared with livestock farming and absence. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated
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