title: Epidemiological studies of coccidiosis in the domesticated fowl (Gallus gallus): I. The fate of ingested oocysts of Eimeria tenella during the prepatent period in susceptible chicks.
abstract: A small proportion of sporulated and unsporulated coccidial oocysts (Eimeria tenella) inoculated per os into domesticated fowl were recovered intact within about one day, well within the usual 5-day ¿prepatent period.¿ Recovery rates of sporulated oocysts were ca. 2-9% from chicks inoculated at all ages tested from 2 to 28 days. From chicks within the same age range, the recovery rates for unsporulated oocysts were ca. 15-21%. The higher recovery rates of unsporulated oocysts indicated that they were more resistant to disruption in the gizzard than sporulated oocysts. Up to 83% of unsporulated oocysts that survived passage through the host's gut were able subsequently to sporulate. The first oocysts recovered, either sporulated or unsporulated, appeared at virtually the same time in all the chicks tested, despite the oldest birds having guts twice as long as the youngest. Moreover, the lengths of oocyst recovery periods in the oldest birds were 10-25% of those in the youngest.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Research Laboratories, Berkhamsted, UK.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000469:parasitology; D016786:Eimeria tenella / Q000502:physiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005895:Gizzard, Avian / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D013170:Spores