title: The effect of infection with mixed Eimeria species on hematology and immune responses following Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease booster vaccination in broilers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Coccidiosis is an important parasitic disease of chickens, causing high mortality and morbidity. This morbidity is believed to be correlated with altered population dynamics of blood cells and immunocompromisation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated the effects of mixed Eimeria species (viz., tenella, maxima, acervulina and necatrix) infection on hematology and immune responses following Newcastle disease (ND) and infectious bursal disease (IBD) booster vaccination in broilers.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-day-old broiler chicks (Hubbard; n = 200) were divided into two equal groups A and B. On day 16, group A was infected orally with Eimeria species (7 × 10(4) sporulated oocysts), whereas group B served as control. Both groups were analyzed for hematological parameters on post-infection days 6-8. Sera from both groups were analyzed for antibody titers against ND and IBD vaccines. On day 8 post-infection, lymphoid organs were also examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly lower (P < 0.05) levels of plasma proteins, globular volume, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, total erythrocytes, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were found in infected chickens compared with non-infected control chickens. In addition, the infected group exhibited significantly increased (P < 0.05) numbers of different leukocytes. Infected chickens also showed significantly lower antibody titers against ND and IBD with decreased relative organ weights of all lymphoid organs except spleen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mixed species of Eimeria adversely affected the hematology and immune efficiency of broilers. Thus, inexpensive immune potentiators and hemotonics along with appropriate anti-coccidial medications are suggested to avoid the complications and subsequent economic losses.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences , Bahauddin Zakariya University , Multan , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Mian Muhammad
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Awais
authors.forename: Muhammad Irfan
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Anwar
authors.forename: Syed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehtisham-ul-Haque
authors.forename: Amar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasir
authors.forename: Muhammad Kashif
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Saleemi
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ashraf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018175:Birnaviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D002645:Chickens; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D004539:Eimeria / Q000276:immunology*; D007117:Immunization, Secondary / Q000662:veterinary; D007243:Infectious bursal disease virus / Q000276:immunology; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology; D009521:Newcastle Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011897:Random Allocation; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D014765:Viral Vaccines
keywords: Eimeria; broilers; coccidiosis; hematology; immunology; poultry