Investigation into the potential of using UV-treated sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella as a local solution to immunization of chickens against caecal coccidiosis

Samir Djemai; Abdeslam Mekroud; Geoff Hide; Daoudi Khelifi; Inès Bellil

doi:10.1007/s12639-022-01562-7

Investigation into the potential of using UV-treated sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella as a local solution to immunization of chickens against caecal coccidiosis

J Parasit Dis. 2023 Jun;47(2):238-245. doi: 10.1007/s12639-022-01562-7. Epub 2023 Jan 7.

Authors

Samir Djemai¹, Abdeslam Mekroud¹, Geoff Hide², Daoudi Khelifi³, Inès Bellil³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire de Recherche de Pathologie Animale Développement des Elevages et Surveillance de la Chaine Alimentaire des Denrées Animales ou d'origine Animale (PADESCA), Institute of Veterinary Sciences, University of Constantine, Constantine, Algeria.
² Biomedical Research Centre, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Salford, UK.
³ Laboratoire de Génétique Biochimie Biotechnolgies Végétales (BBGV), University of Constantine, Constantine, Algeria.

PMID: 37193498
PMCID: PMC10182205 (available on 2024-06-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s12639-022-01562-7

Abstract

In this study, we aim to evaluate the immune response of chickens to UV-treated sporulated oocysts as a means of protection against caecal coccidiosis caused by field strains of Eimeria tenella. Two groups of chicks were immunized using prepared UV-treated oocysts of E. tenella and challenged at day 20 post hatching. The first group was immunized only once at day 1 post hatching, the second group was immunized twice (day 1 and day 8 post hatching). Two non-immunized control groups were used: the first group was challenged with E. tenella, while the second group remained uninfected. The effectiveness of immunization on production and animal health was evaluated by the following criteria: body weight, feed conversion ratio, blood in faeces, mortality, lesion scores and oocyst output. The two immunized groups showed a significantly better performance in body weight, weight gain and lesion scores than the non-immunized group. However, all three groups performed significantly worse than the unchallenged group. The mortality of the non-immunized infected group was high (70%) while mortality in both immunized and unchallenged groups of chickens was significantly lower (range 2.2 to 4.4%) than the infected group (p < 0.05). The production of oocysts in faeces, post-infection, was significantly higher in the non-immunized group compared to the immunized group (p < 0.05) and both were significantly higher than the uninfected group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, immunization by prepared UV-irradiated oocysts is effective in stimulating at least a partial protective immunity in immunized chickens against caecal coccidiosis.

Keywords: Coccidiosis; Eimeria tenella; Immunity; Oocysts; UV-treated.

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