Study on Coccidiosis of Scavenging Indigenous Chickens in Central Ethiopia

Abstract

An investigation was made into coccidiosis of 190 scavenging indigenous chickens between September 2000 and April 2001 in three selected agroclimatic zones, in central Ethiopia. This was done through clinical, postmortem and microscopic examinations. Data were processed by chi-square and Mantel-Haenzel test. The study indicated that 25.8% (49/190) of the chickens were infected with coccidiosis and found to harbour one to four different species of Eimeria. Of these infected chickens, 30 (15.8%) and 19 (10.0%) were positive for clinical and sub-clinical coccidiosis, respectively. There was a significant altitude difference (chi2 = 14.7, p <0.001) in coccidiosis prevalence: 42.2% in chickens from highland region followed by 21.5% in mid-altitude and 13.1% in low-altitude areas. When quantified, the prevalence of coccidiosis was 2.66 and 4.83 times higher in the high-altitude than in mid-altitude (odds ratio, OR = 2.66, p<0.05) and low-altitude (OR = 4.83, p<0.001) chickens. The pathogenic Eimeria species responsible for clinical coccidiosis were E. necatrix, E. acervulina, E. maxima and E. tenella. With increasing demand for poultry products in developing countries, knowledge of production constraints in traditional management practices could help devise control strategies for constraints on backyard poultry production systems.

Prevalence of Eimeria species in scavenging native chickens of Shiraz, Iran

“…We found high prevalences of four important species of coccidia: E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. necatrix and E. maxima. These results are in agreement with reports from Ethiopia (Ashenafi et al, 2004), Jordan (Al-Natour et al, 2002), France (Williams et al, 1996), and Argentina (McDougald et al, 1997) suggesting that those species of Eimeria are widespread in most countries. The high prevalence of the infection in studied native chicken farms in the current study, indicates the maintenance of oocysts in the farm environment, improper cleaning and disinfections methods in the native chicken houses and indiscriminate scavenging behaviour.…”

“…Although the current survey was conducted in the spring and summer seasons when coccidiosis is reported to decrease due to decreased floor wetness (essential for oocyst sporulation and survivability), but due to very poor management in native chicken farms in villages around Shiraz, even in non-winter seasons the prevalence of coccidiosis is high. The higher prevalence of clinical coccidiosis cases (46%) than subclinical cases (18%) in native chickens could be due to the fact that local birds are usually allowed to scavenge in the villages without any restriction and are thus more likely to contact with infective sporulated oocysts in the faeces (which are the main source of infection) than are birds in commercial poultry farms (Ashenafi et al, 2004). Nonetheless, the occurrence of subclinical coccidiosis in local chickens may be attributed to repeated exposure to different species of Eimeria as chickens maintain their immunity to a species of Eimeria by repeated re-exposure.…”

“…Immune chickens upon reinfection become carriers and eliminate oocysts into the environment for long periods. The existence of genetic variation in resistance to coccidiosis among breeds and strains has been reported (Ashenafi et al, 2004;McDougald, 2003). Thus, breed resistance might have contributed to the presence of subclinical coccidiosis in local chickens.…”

“…Ruiz (1982) showed high proportion of coccidiosis in broiler farms of Cuba. Ashenafi et al (2004) reported an overall prevalence of coccidiosis of 25.8% in scavenging chickens in three agroclimatic zones of central Ethiopia and indicated the importance of coccidiosis in poultry farming under a traditional husbandry system. Highly pathogenic species of Eimeria are responsible for the death of the chickens by causing haemorrhagic lesions that lead to blood loss and electrolyte imbalance (McDougald, 2003).…”

Prevalence of <i>Eimeria</i> species in local breed chickens in Gombe metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria

“…However, Safari (2001) and Ashenafi et al (2004) revealed Eimeria acervulina as the most prevalent species while Lobago et al (2005) reported Eimeria brunetti as the most prevalent species. Ahmed et al (2012) reported Eimeria necatrix, and Eimeria tenella as the most prevalent species while Haug et al (2008) reported Eimeria tenella and Eimeria maxima as the most prevalent species.…”