Effect of different decoquinate treatments on cryptosporidiosis in naturally infected cashmere goat kids.

and 24 days after birth to record its growth. Individual faecal samples were collected three times a week and examined for the presence of Cryptosporidium species oocysts using a modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique (Henriksen and Pohlenz 1981). A semi-quantitative examination was carried out in which 20 fields of 400 x magnification per slide sample were assessed and scored (0 No oocysts, 1 One to two oocysts, 2 Three to five oocysts, 3 Six to 10 oocysts, 4 >10 oocysts). The faecal consistency (1 Pellet, 2 Solid, 3 Soft, 4 Scour) was also scored. Each animal was assessed clinically daily for appetence and signs of abdominal pain. Groups of mean values of all parameters for the unmedicated and medicated groups were analysed using Student’s t test, and the statistical significance of the variables was tested at the 0·05 level of confidence. The animals in the control group (A) showed the most severe clinical signs, such as significantly softer faecal consistency at 11 days after birth (P<0·05) (Fig 1a); one kid died nine days after birth showing an oocyst shedding score of 4. Episodes of diarrhoea were observed only in some kids in group A between 11 and 13 days after birth. Kids in group B had softer faeces than those in group C at 15 and 17 days after birth, but the difference was not significant. Signs of abdominal pain were observed only in some kids with diarrhoea in group A. The mean weight gains during the experimental period were 2·61 kg for animals in group A, 2·57 kg for group B and 3·23 kg Effect of different decoquinate treatments on cryptosporidiosis in naturally infected cashmere goat kids