Todayโs path rounds are on ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐จ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ฌ are a type of protozoan that live within cells. The most common coccidians we think about are ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ and ๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ in our production animal species. These parasites have a ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ for intestinal cells, meaning they specifically seek out that location to live!
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
Intestinal coccidiosis affects numerous species, but today we are going to talk about sheep and goats specifically.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
There are about a dozen species of coccidia found in sheep an goats, with most of them belonging to the Eimeria family.
The most interesting member of this family is ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข, because it causes a fairly unique lesion in the intestine! This particular coccidia likes to develop its ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, the form of the protozoa that can spread to infect other cells, within the ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ (lymph vessels) of the intestine. This large accumulation of protozoans causes nodules to form along the intestine, which is sometimes referred to as ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ. Neat!
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
Coccidosis affects young lambs and kids, causing severe diarrhea that may contain blood or mucus. Typically, these young animals are very sick, which can cause them to grow poorly or suffer severe weight loss. Some may die from the infection as well. Both of these factors combined make coccidiosis have significant impacts on the economics of sheep and goat production.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
The best method for diagnosis in live animals is a ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ demonstrating large numbers of the egg stage of the protozoan. If an animal dies, the characteristic nodular appearance of the intestine is also a good clue!
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐?
Often treatment of clinically affected animals is not very effective, but can be done using ๐๐จ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ medications. These medications prevent replication of the coccidian, hopefully allowing the animal time to recover from their disease. Prevention can be done with ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ (given before disease happens) coccidiostats, and by keeping the animals in clean, frequently rotated areas.
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-5) Examples of intestinal coccidiosis in goats!
6) What coccidiosis looks like under the microscope. The cells with the dark red specks are the protozoans!
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 2. Sixth Edition.
Photos 1-6 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributors King, Garlick, Metro, Tyler, Dodd, Luginbuhl licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
