Prevalence of coccidial infection in sheep and goats in northeastern China

C. R. Wang, J. Y. Xiao, A. H. Chen, J. Chen, Y. Wang, J. F. Gao, X. Q. Zhu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

The prevalence of coccidial infection in sheep and goats was examined in Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China between January 2007 and June 2009. A total of 508 faecal samples (309 from sheep and 199 from goats) were collected from eight sheep and goat rearing administrative regions. Oocysts in faecal samples were detected using a flotation technique, sporulated and identified to species based on morphological features of the sporulated oocysts. The overall prevalence of coccidial infection was 90.9% (462/508), with prevalence of 92.9% (287/309) for sheep and 87.9% (175/199) for goats. 13 species of Eimeria were identified, namely, E. bakuensis, E. faurei, E. parva, E. ahsata, E. crandallis, E. granulosa, E. intricata, E. pallida, E. christenseni, E. caprina, E. alijevi, E. apsheronica and E. arloingi. In sheep, the most common Eimeria species were E. ahsata (67.2%), E. parva (59.9%) and E. bakuensis (44.3%). In goats, the more prevalent species were E. christenseni (78.3%), E. alijevi (73.7%), E. caprina (62.3%) and E. arloingi (44.6%). Concurrent infection with two to eight species was common. However, no clinical symptoms were observed in the examined sheep and goats. The results of the present investigation have implications for the control of coccidial infections in sheep and goats in northeastern China.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)213-217
Number of pages5
JournalVeterinary Parasitology
Volume174
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Dec 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Coccidial infection
  • Eimeria
  • Goat
  • Northeastern China
  • Sheep

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