Most isolates of Toxoplasma gondii can be grouped into 3 genetic lineages. In the present study, 67 isolates of T. gondii were obtained by bioassay in mice inoculated with brains and hearts of 96 asymptomatic chickens from an area highly endemic to human infection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Of the 48 isolates genotyped using the SAG2 locus, 34 (70%) were of type I and 13 (27%) were of type III....

While hosts are routinely exploited by a community of parasite species, the principles governing host responses towards parasites are unclear. Identifying the health outcomes of coinfections involving helminth macroparasites and microparasites is one area of importance for public and domestic animal health. For instance, it is controversial how deworming programmes affect incidence and severity...

A reverse passive hemagglutination (RPH) assay was developed for Cryptosporidium oocyst antigen with an antioocyst monoclonal antibody (MAb; MAb-C1) coupled to stabilized sheep erythrocytes. RPH was compared with microscopy of auramine-phenol-stained smears of 56 oocyst-positive fecal samples, each of which was tested blindly by RPH with two oocyst-negative samples received on the same day (a t...

BACKGROUND Piglet isosporosis is one of the most common parasitic diseases in modern pig production. To prevent clinical disease, prophylactic treatment of piglets with toltrazuril (BAYCOX® 5%, Bayer HealthCare, Animal Health, Monheim, Germany) is widely practiced in the past 20 years. There are only very few reports documenting the likely effect of managerial practices, such as hygiene measure...

The efficacy of diclazuril in growing rabbits was investigated under experimental and field conditions. In a first experimental trial, the susceptibility of recent isolated French Eimeria field strains to in-feed use of diclazuril, salinomycin and robenidine was studied in fattening rabbits. Rabbits were challenged at the age of 31 d with a mixed inoculum of Eimeria magna, E. media and E. perfo...

Coccidian parasites are transmitted via a fecal oocyst stage that is exceptionally resistant to environmental stress and harsh chemical treatments, which allows parasites to stably persist outside a host. Because of its oocyst durability Cryptosporidium parvum is a significant water- and food-borne pathogen of humans, as well as animals of agricultural importance. To date, only one apicomplexan...

Very recently, the Asian malaria vector (Anopheles stephensi) was stably transinfected with the wAlbB strain of Wolbachia, inducing refractoriness to the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. However, conditions in the field can differ substantially from those in the laboratory. We use the rodent malaria P. yoelii, and somatically transinfected An. stephensi as a model system to investi...

The association of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts with suspended particles can alter the oocysts' effective physical properties and influence their transport in aquatic systems. To assess this behavior, C. parvum oocysts were mixed with various suspended sediments under a variety of water chemical conditions, and the resulting settling of the oocysts was observed. Direct microscopic observation...

Toxoplasma gondii oocysts are environmentally resistant and can infect virtually all warm-blooded hosts, including humans and livestock. Little is known about the biochemical basis for this resistance of oocysts, and mechanism for excystation of T. gondii sporozoites. The objective of the present study was to evaluate different methods (mechanical fragmentation, gradients, flow cytometry) to se...

This study evaluated effects of three products of dietary organic acids (Acidomix® AFG; Activate® AD and Lacplus) on protective immunity against coccidiosis. Two hundred and eighty 1-day broiler chickens were randomly divided into 8 groups by 5 replications (7 birds per replicate), comprising 2 controls (negative=N; positive=P) and 6 supplemented organic acid groups (1% AFG, 1% DA, 1% Lacplus; ...