• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2016

Protozoan parasite, the genus Eimeria, causes an intestinal disease, coccidiosis, in young broilers. Coccidiosis induces significant economic loss in poultry production. This study was designed to identify the prevalence of Eimeria spp. in broilers in Gyeonggi province, Korea. Fecal samples from broilers at 94 farms were collected in two chicken slaughterhouses between March and June 2015. Eimeria infection was determined by microscopic examination and PCR using ITS-1 region. The prevalence of Eimeria was 58.5% (55 of 94). E. acervulina was identified in 96.4% of samples, E. tenella in 81.8%, E. maxima in 12.7%, E. praecox in 12.7%, E. brunetti in 5.5%, E. necatrix in 1.8%, and E. mitis in 1.8%. Body weight (BW) of broilers infected with both E. tenella and E. acervulina ($mean=1.53{\pm}0.19^Bkg$) was significantly lower than broilers with E. acervulina positive/E. tenalla negative ($mean=1.74{\pm}0.07^Akg$) or Eimeria negative ($mean=1.65{\pm}0.15^Akg$) (Duncan's multiple range test, P<0.01). High prevalence of Eimeria tenella and the impact on the broiler body weight shows the importance of this protozoa in broiler industry. Development of the periodic monitoring strategy and systemic management for the purpose of the prevention/eradication of Eimeria infection among broilers is required.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.161-176
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• 1992

Coccidiosis is caused by Eimeria infecting primarily the intestine of the susceptible host, thereby seriously impairing the growth and feed utilization of livestock and poultry. The genus Eimeria contains a number of obligate intracellular protozoan parasites with a complicated life-cycle involving both asexual and sexual stages of development. The desire to develop a vaccine against Eimeria has Promoted active research to elucidate the mechanisms of protective immunity and identification of candidate vaccine antigens. Protozoa are unique in their modes of transmission and nature of disease manifestations, the significance of which should be considered in the development of a control strategy. An intricate and complex interplay of different cell populations and cytokines is involved not only in the pathogenesis of coccidiosis but also in the development of protective immunity Thus, comprehensive understanding of the events leading to protection following Eimeria infection will be crucial for the development of an effective vaccine.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.385-390
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• 1998

A rabbit farm reared about 500 New Zealand White in Kwangju city was occurred Eimeria stiedae infection. Morbidity and cumulative mortality were more than 39% and 14%, respectively, from May, 1997 to March, 1998. Most of cases with severe diarrhea were belong to younger than 2-month old. In necrospy, there were multifocally white nodules with about 1-5mm in diameter on the liver surface and dark greenish mucous exudate in intestinal lumen. Main microscopic lesions included marked hyperplasia of the bile duct epitheilia containing different developmental stages of Eimeria stiedae and inflammatory cell infiltration, and the degeneration of small intestinal epithelia. Many oocysts of Eimeria stiedae were detected in the intestinal contents and epithelia, the feces, the bile juice, the bile duct and the liver.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.249-252
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• 2011

Cell culture systems for the protozoan Eimeria are not yet available. The present study was conducted to develop an animal model system by inoculating animals with a live Eimeria vaccine. This study was conducted on 3-day-old chickens (n = 20) pretreated with cyclophosphamide. The chickens were divided into 2 groups: the control group (n = 10) and the inoculated group that received the live Eimeria vaccine (n = 10). During the study period, we compared the clinical signs, changes in body weight, and number of oocysts shed in the feces of the control and inoculated group. This study showed that oocyst shedding was significantly higher in the chickens inoculated with live Eimeria oocysts than in the control chickens. Moreover, body weight gain was lesser in the animals in the inoculated group than in the control animals. Fecal oocyst shedding was observed in the inoculated animals. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that live Eimeria vaccination with cyclophosphamide pretreatment may be used to obtain an effective animal model for studying protozoan infections. This animal study model may eliminate the need for a tedious continuous animal inoculation process every 6 months because the live coccidiosis vaccine contains live oocysts.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.269-274
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to examine the epidemiological features of Eimeria in calves with acute diarrhea. Samples were collected from between 15 days and 90 days old calves (n=83) in Gimje area from March 2006 to March 2007. Feces of bloody diarrhea were examined for the presence of Eimeria oocysts using a sucrose flotation method. Out of 83 calves, 62 (74.6%) had Eimeria oocysts. In the results of monthly analysis, the highest prevalence (12.0%) of Eimeria oocysts was found on June. In the seasonal infection rate, spring was the highest prevalence (30.1%), followed by summer (24.0%). Furthermore, the highest prevalence (44.5%) was found in calves from between 31 - 60 days old in the analysis by ages. However, there was no significant differences between female and male sex even though the prevalence was slightly bigger in female than in male. The prevalence of the present study to detect Eimria oocysts for infection may have been affected by weather-conditions in the spring. Young calves should be separated to minimize the infection from cattle as much as possible. Additional studies are necessary to find other factors for infection and combining molecular methods with a highly sensitive system for Eimeria detection could be a reliable and economic way of Eimeria eradication.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.91.1-91.9
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• 2022

Three parameters, body weight gain (BWG), intestinal lesion score (LS) and fecal oocyst shedding, were compared in broilers infected with major parasitic species; Eimeria acervulina, E. maxima, and E. tenella. First, two- and three-week-old chickens with Eimeria infection showed LS of approximately 3, but two-week-old chickens were more correlated with BWG. Second, significant differences in BWG were observed between male and female broilers challenged with Eimeria. Finally, E. maxima-infected broilers among three Eimeria species showed a higher relationship between BWG and LS, suggesting three considerations such as genders, age and Eimeria species for Eimeria experiments.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.443-461
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• 2022

This study was conducted to assess the effects of the dietary supplementation of riboflavin (as a bile salt hydrolase [BSH] inhibitor) and Bacillus subtilis on growth performance and woody breast of male broilers challenged with Eimeria spp. Intestinal bacteria, including supplemented probiotics, can produce BSH enzymes that deconjugate conjugated bile salts and reduce fat digestion. A 3 × 2 × 2 (riboflavin × Bacillus subtilis × Eimeria spp. challenge) factorial arrangement of treatments in randomized complete block design was used. On d 14, birds were gavaged with 20× doses of commercial cocci vaccine (Coccivac^R -B52, Merck Animal Health, Omaha, NE). Dietary treatment of riboflavin and B. subtilis did not affect body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion (FCR) d 0 to 14 and overall d 0 to 41. Eimeria spp challenge reduced BWG, feed intake (FI), and increased FCR between d 14 to 28, but increased BWG and lowered FCR between d 28 to 35. There were no effects of the Eimeria spp. challenge on the overall d 0 to 41 FCR and FI, but BWG was reduced. Eimeria spp. challenge increased the abdominal fat pad weight and slight woody breast incidences on processed birds on d 42. Dietary inclusion of B. subtilis and riboflavin at tested levels did not help birds to mitigate the negative impact of Eimeria spp. challenge to enhance the growth performance.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.619-623
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• 2018

Bovine coccidiosis is one of the most important parasitic diseases affecting calf productivity. Here, we investigated the prevalence of Eimeria spp. in pre-weaned native Korean calves and determined the correlation between diarrhea and Eimeria spp. Fecal samples were collected from individual calves (288 normal and 191 diarrheic) in 6 different farms. Of the 479 samples, Eimeria oocysts were detected in 124 calves (25.9%). Five Eimeria spp. were identified; E. zuernii (18.8%) was the most prevalent, followed by E. auburnensis (12.5%), E. bovis (7.5%), E. subspherica (5.8%), and E. bukidnonensis (1.0%). A significant correlation was observed between diarrhea and mixed infection with more than 2 Eimeria spp. (odds ratio [OR]=2.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-4.49; P=0.03) compared to single infection (OR=1.29; 95% CI: 0.77-2.15; P=0.33). Of the 5 Eimeria spp. identified, E. subspherica (95% CI: 1.24-5.61; P=0.01) and E. bukidnonensis (95% CI: 825.08-1,134.25; P=0.00) strongly increased the risk of diarrhea by 2.64-fold and 967.39-fold, respectively, compared to other species. Moreover, mixed infection with E. auburnensis and E. bukidnonensis was significantly associated with diarrhea (OR=2,388.48; 95% CI: 1,009.71-5,650.00; P<0.00) in pre-weaned native Korean calves. This is the first report to demonstrate the importance of E. bukidnonensis associated with diarrhea in pre-weaned native Korean calves. Further epidemiological studies should investigate the prevalence of E. bukidnonensis and the association between E. bukidnonensis and diarrhea.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.185-190
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• 1972

A preliminary survey for classification of coccidia isolated from domestic animals and poultry was broadly conducted by the morphological aspects of the $o{\ddot{o}}cysts$. The number of animals and birds used in this survey were 762 chickens, 30 rabbits, 37 goats, 18 swine, 39 cattle, 8 dogs, 132 ducks, 23 deer and 15 horses. The species classified in each animal and bird were six species in chicken, nine in rabbits, nine in goats, six in swine, six in cattle, one in dogs and negative in ducks, deer and horses. The coccidial species in each animal and bird were as follows: In chicken: Eimeria acervulina, E.maxima, E. mitis, E. necatrix, E. praecox, and E. tenella. In rabbits: Eimeria irresidua, E. magna, E. media, E. neolepolis, E. perforans, E. piriformis and E. stiedae. In goats: Eimeria ahsata, E. arloingi, E. crandalis, E. faurei, E. granulosa, E. intricata, E. ninakohlyakimovae, E. pallida, E. perva. In Swine: Eimeria deblieki, E. perminuta, E. palita, E. scabra, E. scrofae and Isospora suis. In Cattle : Eimeria bovis, E. bukidonensis, E. cylindrica, E ellipsoidalis, E subspherica and E. Zurnii. In dogs: Isospora bigemina.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 1999

Fecal samples from 12 Pipistrellus kuhlii captured at Shagrah, Saudi Arabia, were examined for coccidia and three (25%) found to harbor a undescribed eimerian, herein described as Eimeria pipistrellus n. sp. Sporulated oocysts were sub spherical. $24.8{\times}23.2{\;}(22-27{\times}20-25){\;}\mu\textrm{m}$, with a bilayered and smooth wall. The micropyle was absent, but a large oocyst residuum and a single polar granule were present. Sporocysts were ovoid, 11.6{\times}8.3 (10.5-13{\times}7.5-9) Jim, with a prominent Stieda body, but without a substiedal body; sporozoites lay head to tail in sporocysts and contained one large posterior refractile body. Eimeria pipistrellus n. sp. is the 3rd species of the genus Eimeria found from bats of the genus Pipistrellus.