ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the course of infection in pigeons with Eimeria labbeana. Thirty-five squabs (4-6 weeks old) were brought from the local poultry market and examined for coccidial infection for 7 days to ensure they were coccidia free. A negative control group of five squabs was used, and thirty squabs were infected orally with 2.5 × 104 sporulated E. labbeana oocysts. From day 1-8 post-infection (PI), three squabs were scarified daily to track the endogenous stages in the intestinal tissue. Furthermore, six squabs were preserved to track the patent period and calculate daily oocyst shedding. The parasite stages were differentiated using paraffin-embedded intestinal tissues that were sectioned and stained. On day 5 PI, the infected squabs had greenish watery diarrhea, weakness, rough feathers, and decreased food intake. The pre-patent and patent durations were six and fourteen days PI, respectively. The shedding of oocysts began on day 6 PI and peaked on day 8 PI. In the duodenum and jejunum of the small intestine, histopathological investigation indicated the presence of three schizont stages, macro- and micro-gametes, and oocysts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Egypt to explore the course of E. labbeana infection in domestic pigeons.
ABSTRACT
Investigation of thymol efficacy to control pigeon coccidiosis was performed using in-vitro and in-vivo studies. The in-vitro experiment was conducted by treatment of unsporulated oocysts of Eimeria species of pigeon by five concentrations (0.625-10%) from either thymol, eucalyptus essential oil or amprolium anticoccidial drug and incubation for 72 h. The in-vitro study revealed that thymol concentrations ≥1.25 % caused significant deformity on sporulated and unsporulated oocysts compared to the other two products. Eucalyptus oil was active at both 5 and 10 % concentrations on unsporulated oocysts but showed non-significant changes on sporulated ones at all tested concentration. Meanwhile, in-vivo testing of thymol was conducted using 45 squabs which were equally divided into three groups; untreated uninfected (UU) negative control, untreated infected (UI) positive control and thymol treated (TT). TT group received 40 mg/kg BWt thymol in feed for 15 days. At day five post thymol supplementation, the UI and TT groups were orally infected by 25 × 103sporulated oocysts of pigeon Eimeria labbeana. The in-vivo study showed that thymol minimized the adverse effect of Eimeria infection in pigeon as observed by less severity of clinical signs, low oocysts count and improvement of body weight when compared with untreated infected birds. In addition, the biochemical parameters including liver and kidney functions tests proved thymol safety in pigeon. Moreover, thymol showed excellent antioxidant activity that was estimated by significantly lower value of malondialdehyde in TT than UI groups. The histopathological findings of TT group showed intact intestinal villi with mild sloughed epithelium, degenerated coccidian developmental stages and massive infiltrations of mononuclear cells in lamina propria. In conclusion, thymol can be safely used to control pigeon coccidiosis as a natural effective compound.
