White blood cell differential count in rabbits artificially infected with intestinal coccidia

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of intestinal coccidia upon the white cell count and differential leukocyte count of the infected rabbits. Two groups of rabbits were infected with various doses of intestinal coccidia oocysts. The first group (A) was infected with 2 x 10 5 , and the second (B) with 4 x 10 5 of sporulated oocysts. The inoculum was composed of oocysts of the following intestinal coccidia: Eimeria flavescens (7%), E. matsubayashii (9%), E. magna (12%), E. neoleporis (19%), E. perforans (21%) and E. media (32%). The infective mix was dominated by moderately pathogenic species causing a mild form of intestinal coccidiosis in the rabbits. The third group (C) served as the control (uninfected rabbits). Immediately before the infection, on days 4, 7 and 10 post infection, the rabbits were bled and white cell count, blood smears and differential blood cell count were done. We found that in this form of intestinal coccidiosis, the number of white cells was increased. The number of monocytes was risen significantly only on day 10. Lymphocyte count decreased whereas the number of eosinophiles remained unchanged despite the fact that coccidiosis is a parasitic disease.