Coccidia of Japanese Quail: From Identification, Prevalence, Infection, and Immunization

Abstract

A systematic study was undertaken to identify the species, characterize the pathogenicity, and assess the immunization of Eimeria bateri in Japanese quail ( Coturnix coturnix japonica). In total, 107 Japanese quail farms were examined. The samples were processed and oocyst shape indices of sporulated oocysts were determined. Out of 107 examined farms, 34 (31.78%) farms were positive. Four Eimeria spp. were morphologically identified. For characterization of the pathogenicity, Japanese quail were orally inoculated with various doses of sporulated oocysts of Eimeria bateri. Weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), mortality, severity of diarrhea, and intestinal lesion scores were examined. The birds inoculated with high doses displayed significantly lower weight gain and poorer FCR, increased mortality, and more intestinal and fecal lesions scores. To quantify the immunization of Japanese quail against coccidiosis, 2-day-old quail were orally inoculated with either 100 or 1,000 sporulated oocysts of E. bateri. At 30 days of age, the immunized and non-immunized challenged birds were orally inoculated with 1 × 10 sporulated oocysts of E. bateri. After challenge, birds immunized with 100 or 1,000 oocysts had better weight gain, FCR, minimal diarrhea, fewer intestinal lesions, and lesser oocyst production compared to non-immunized challenged birds. We concluded that vaccination is a viable method for controlling coccidiosis in Japanese quail.

A Comprehensive Review on the Common Emerging Diseases in Quails.

“…The FDA approved using of monensin sodium and amprolium as coccidiostats in the quail ration (El-Morsy et al, 2016). In conclusion, vaccination is a viable method to control coccidiosis in quails (Arafat and Abbas, 2018).…”

“…The histopathological changes revealed damage of intestinal villi and crypt epithelial cells with multiplying endogenous stages of Eimeria and a high number of oocysts (Teixeira and Lopes, 2002;Simiyoon et al, 2018). Arafat and Abbas (2018) detected that 34 out of 107 (31.78%) examined Japanese quail farms were positive for Eimeria bateri. Proper control measures should be considered in quail farms by avoiding water spillage, good stocking density, regular and hygienic disposal of litter and improving hygienic practices (Umar et al, 2014).…”

“…The effect of feeding some herbal plants like Matricaria chamomilla on E. bateri infestation in 15-day-old quails was studied and the results revealed effective reduction of fecal oocyst shedding after treatment (Ahmadov et al, 2014). In addition, Arafat and Abbas (2018) concluded that oral immunization of 2-day-old Japanese quails with either 100 or 1000 sporulated oocysts of E. bateri improved weight gain and feed conversion rate as well as reduced diarrhea, intestinal lesions, and oocyst production. The FDA approved using of monensin sodium and amprolium as coccidiostats in the quail ration (El-Morsy et al, 2016).…”

A review of Eimeria antigen identification for the development of novel anticoccidial vaccines

“…Blake et al (2015) reported that immune protective antigens displayed low levels of polymorphisms, e.g., the low levels of variation were observed in the apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA1) expressed within the E. tenella. Vaccination using a small subset of antigens from a complex Eimeria parasite may provide a significant driving force for immune selection without establishing resistance (Arafat and Abbas 2018). Therefore, current research is directed at the identification of several novel immune protective genes that could be used to produce recombinant vaccines (Song et al 2010;Blake et al 2015;Kundu et al 2017;Yang et al 2017;Rafiqi et al 2018;Suprihati and Yunus 2018).…”

Emerging threat ofEimeriaoperational taxonomic units (OTUs) on poultry production

“…Morphological (oocyst shape and size) and pathological (lesion site) analyses were used to successfully diagnose coccidial infections. However, the analysis only partially identified each Eimeria species (Arafat and Abbas, 2018; Yunus et al ., 2019). These detection methods require trained experts, and are labour-intensive and time-consuming (Ogedengbe et al ., 2011).…”