1Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner-334 001, Rajasthan (India)
2Department of Livestock Production Management, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner-334 001, Rajasthan (India)
3Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner-334 001, Rajasthan (India)
*E mail: dr.poonam31@gmail.com
Online published on 23 October, 2018.
The examination of 609 faecal samples, randomly collected from Internal drainage dry zone of Rajasthan from September 2016 to August 2017 for prevalence of various species of Eimeria affecting the health of dairy animals, revealed an overall prevalence of 32.68%. Risk assessment analysis revealed highest prevalence in native cattle (33.04%), followed by crossbred cattle (32.75%) and buffaloes (32.46%) in decreasing order of prevalence having non-significant difference. Severity analysis based on the estimation of oocysts per gram (OPG) of faeces revealed mild to moderate infection of Eimeria spp. ranging from 300–2500 with an average of 1450±334.42 OPG in dairy animals of study area. Microscopic examination of sporulated oocysts revealed the presence of six morphotypes of Eimeria viz., E. bovis (38.2%) as the major contributor to coccidia population, followed by E. zuernii (16.4%), E. cylindrica (15.4%), E. auburnensis (13.4%), E. pellita (11.4%) and E. alabamensis (5.2%) in a decreasing order of prevalence.
Coccidiosis, dairy animals, internal drainage dry zone, morphotypes, risk assessment, strategic control
