Studies on Coccidiosis of Calves in Hungarian Dairy Farms

Abstract

In most Hungarian dairy farms clinical coccidiosis of calves had been misdiagnosed because of the lack of information on the presence of Eimeria sp. in local animals, causing inestimable animal health problems and economical losses. For this reason the first countrywide study on coccidiosis of calves was carried out in 86 dairy farms. Faecal samples were collected from 743 calves aged between two and four months old in 2005 and 2006. The number of animals enrolled per farm ranged between two and ten. During the qualitative ovoscopy, 100 oocysts per sample were examined for species identification. Eimeria oocysts were found in 245 (33 %) samples. Of the seven species identified, the most prominent species were E. auburnensis (19.6 %), E. ellipsoidalis (15.9 %) and E. bovis (14.9 %). Eimeria zuernii, E. cylindrica, E. pellita or E. subsphaerica oocysts were found in less than 20 samples each. Multiple infections with two or more species occurred in 83 (33.9%) calves. The oocysts of at least one of the two pathogenic species, E. bovis and/or E. zurnii, were found on every farm studied, which infected 118 (48.2 %) animals, however, clinical coccidiosis was not observed. Coccidia of Eimeria were present in 74 (86.0 %) out of 86 farms, occurring countrywide, where the number of Eimeria sp. ranged between one and six. Based on these preliminary results the authors emphasise that veterinarians and cattle owners should be familiar with clinical signs and the potential implications of cattle coccidiosis. Management procedures and application of anti-coccidial compound are needed for minimising the impact of coccidiosis.

Occurrence and diversity of Eimeria species in cattle in Hamedan province, Iran

“…were identified: E. bovis (23.7%) and E. zuernii (19.2%), while seven non-pathogenic species were detected: E. canadensis (12.6%), E. ellipsodalis (11.4%), E. alabamensis (10.4%), E. pellita (9.1%), E. auburnensis (6.8%), E. cylindrica (4.6%) and E. bukidnonensis (2.3%). This is in agreement with data reported by other researchers (Ernst et al 1984;Kasiman and Al-Shawa 1985;Cicek et al 2007;Farkas at al. 2007;Almeida et al 2011), and indicates that Eimeria spp.…”

“…Research performed in other countries has revealed prevalence rates of Eimeria spp. varying from 17.9% to 93% in Poland (Pilarczyk et al 2000;Klockiewicz et al 2007;Pilarczyk et al 2009), 33% in Hungary (Farkas et al 2007), 22.6% and 33.3% in Brazil (Almeida et al 2011;Poscoti-Bruhn et al 2011), 35% to 47.1% in China (Yu et al 2011;Dong et al 2012), 50% in Pakistan (Nisar-Khan et al 2013), 22.7% and 68% in Ethiopia (Abebe et al 2008;Dawid et al 2012), 20%, 68% and 75% in Turkey (Arslan and Tuzer 1998;Cicek et al 2007;Nalbantoglu et al 2008), 29%, 50% and 52% in South Africa (Matjila and Penzhorn 2002), and 35% in Tanzania (Chibunda et al 1997). The rate was reported to be 21.3% and 18% to 50% in the Kurdistan and East-Azerbaijan provinces of Iran (Yakhchali and Gholami 2008;Yakhchali and Zarei 2008;Davoudi et al 2011).…”

Prevalence of subclinical coccidiosis in river buffalo calves of southwest of Iran

“…In Hungary Eimeria oocysts were found in 33% of calve and seven species were identified. Among the identified species of Eimeria, E. auburnensis was found to be the highest prevalent species (Farkas et al 2007). In our study 16.6% of fecal samples were found to be diarrheic.…”

Analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing the dynamics of bovine Eimeria spp. from central–eastern Poland

“…In their study carried out in Turkey, Arslan and Tuzer, (1998) (Cicek et al, 2007). On Hungarian dairy farms, Farkas et al (2007) found seven species, the highest prevalence presented by E. auburnensis, E. ellipsoidalis and E. bovis. Also in the USA, Lucas et al, (2006) found 13 species of the coccidia, with E. bovis dominating.…”

“…A higher proportion of one-species invasions was determined by others (Pilarczyk et al, 2011). Farkas et al (2007) found a mixed invasion in merely 33.9% calves, identifying up to four species of Eimeria spp. In their Turkish studies, Arslan et al (1998) found 29% of the calves to be infested with one species.…”