Immunization of Chicken with Live Eimeria tenella Sporulated Oocysts for Control of Caecal Coccidiosis

Eimeria tenella is the most pathogenic and one of the commonest species of Eimeria infecting broiler chickens raised under deep litter system throughout the world, causing caecal coccidiosis and incurring huge economic losses to the poultry industry. In the present study, the immunization potential of live Eimeria tenella oocysts was evaluated following homologous oocyst challenge in broilers. The birds were immunized at seven and 21 days of age orally with 1000 live sporulated oocyst of Eimeria tenella and challenged with homologous strain of parasite on 28 days of age. The immunization potential was evaluated in terms of relative weight gain, caecal lesion scoring, oocyst output and the anti-coccidial index (ACI). The results revealed that immunization with live oocysts of Eimeria tenella resulted in significant relative weight gain (82.47%), reduction in oocyst output (93.74%) and ACI of 161.47, indicating that oral immunization of chickens against E. tenella was effective in preventing the clinical disease and decreasing the oocyst burden in poultry farms.

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