Abstract
A severe outbreak of diarrhea associated with poor growth was reported in ten newly weaned goat kids that originated from a research farm (Group A). Two of these kids underwent necropsy examination. Five goat kids of the same age maintained in the same pen showed no clinical signs (Group B). The clinical, gross pathological and histopathological features of the clinically sick animals were consistent with severe coccidiosis. Group A animals had significantly lower levels of serum vitamin B12 (<200 pg/ml) compared with group B animals (2000 pg/ml). In addition, kids belonging to group A had significantly higher Eimeria arloingi oocysts per gram (OPG) of faeces (101,400/g) compared with kids of group B (9,154/g). Microscopy and molecular tools (18S rRNA and COI genes) confirmed that the goat kids were infected with the caprine protozoan parasite E. arloingi. This study provides a definitive association between low levels of serum vitamin B12 and clinical E. arloingi infection, and also provides support to our previous studies that demonstrated how low levels of serum vitamin B12 leads to an impairment of neutrophil function and thereby potential lowered immunity to pathogens.
Highlights
In previous studies, we demonstrated that newly weaned goat kids having low levels of serum vitamin B12 (< 200 pg/ml) exhibited poor growth rates and bone lengths (Kadim et al, 2006), decreased nutrient digestibility (Kadim et al, 2003) and poor meat quality (Kadim et al, 2004)
We describe an outbreak of diarrhea and poor growth in a group of newly weaned goat kids that were found infected with E. arloingi
The present study revealed that Omani goat kids with low levels of serum vitamin B12 (
Summary
We demonstrated that newly weaned goat kids having low levels of serum vitamin B12 (< 200 pg/ml) exhibited poor growth rates and bone lengths (Kadim et al, 2006), decreased nutrient digestibility (Kadim et al, 2003) and poor meat quality (Kadim et al, 2004). We observed hepatic lipidosis in goat kids fed diets with low levels of cobalt resulting in deficiency of serum vitamin B12 (Johnson et al, 1999, 2004). Eimeria infections in goats are commonly asymptomatic Some species such as E. ninakohlyakimovae and E. arloingi are considered pathogenic and have been associated with poor body growth (Chartier & Paraud, 2012; Ruiz et al, 2012). A positive correlation has been seen between undetermined Eimeria species oocyst counts and low levels of serum vitamin B12 levels in six month old goats (Al-Zadjali et al, 2004)
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