Abstract
Avian coccidiosis is an important parasitic disease affecting poultry and causes high economic losses in poultry industry, which acts as an important sector in the Egyptian national income. It is caused by genus Eimeria that belongs to subphylum apicomplexa. It affects domestic pigeons causing great losses, particularly in squabs. So, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Eimeria species infecting domestic pigeons (Columbia livia) in Minia province. Intestines of 400 domestic pigeons collected from various poultry butcher shops as well as 103 pooled fecal samples of household pigeons were microscopically examined by the flotation technique. The recovered oocysts were morphologically identified. The overall prevalence of Eimeria species infection was 27.0% (108/400) and 72.82% (75/103) in the intestinal and pooled fecal samples respectively. Seasonally, the highest infection rate in the pooled fecal samples was in both spring and autumn (80.0%), while the lowest was in summer (56.0%). Meanwhile, the infection rate of the intestinal samples was the highest in winter (33.33%) and the lowest in autumn (20.0%). Moreover, The monthly infection rate of intestinal samples revealed that September and April had the highest rates;(55.0% and 41.62%). However, no infection rates were found in October and November, while monthly infection rate of fecal samples recorded that January and February showed 100% infection rate. Meanwhile, March and August, showed the lowest rate of infection 28.57% and 42.86% respectively. The morphological identification revealed the presence of four Eimeria species, Eimeria labbeana, E. columbarum E.columbae and E.labbeana-like, in pigeons in Minia province. Further studies are recommended to investigate the life cycle and molecular differentiation of Eimeria species infecting domestic birds.
Highlights
The domestic pigeons, Columba livia domestica, have a worldwide distribution
Coccidiosis in pigeons is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (Coccidia Eimeriidae), (Tenter et al, 2002; Yang et al, 2016)
Coccidiosis of pigeons may occasionally be seen in young squabs aged 4 weeks to 4 months when they reared intensively with poor hygienic measures, while elder ones serve as carrier and remain apparently healthy (Soulsby, 1982; Ali et al, 2015)
Summary
The domestic pigeons, Columba livia domestica, have a worldwide distribution. It is derived from the rock pigeons (Columba livia), which is the oldest world's domesticated bird (Croome and Shields, 1992;Yang et al, 2016). Coccidiosis of pigeons may occasionally be seen in young squabs aged 4 weeks to 4 months when they reared intensively with poor hygienic measures, while elder ones serve as carrier and remain apparently healthy (Soulsby, 1982; Ali et al, 2015). It affects the intestinal tissue causing rough feathers, anorexia and greenish watery diarrhea with mucus, dehydration, loss of body weight and results in mortality (McDougald, 2003; Abdul Latif et al, 2016; Mohammed et al, 2017; Donget al., 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
