Early Diagnosis and Effective Treatment of Caecal Coccidiosis in a Flock of White Aseel Fighter Chicken in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh

Background: Coccidiosis is one of the most important protozoal diseases of poultry worldwide and is characterized by enteritis, bloody diarrhoea. Out of the several forms of coccidiosis, caecal coccidiosis caused by Eimeria tenella is the most pathogenic and most common coccidial species in birds the purpose of this study is to effectively diagnose and treat the coccidiosis in Aseel flock. A poultry farmer brought a dead white Aseel bird of about 8 weeks old for necropsy to Veterinary dispensary, Jeelakarragudem, West Godavari District, with a history of bloody droppings, ruffled feathers, reduced weight gain and appetite for the last 7 days. Methods: Postmortem examination was conducted to ascertain the cause of death. Intestinal scrapings were collected on to the slides and examined for coccidia under microscope (40x). Results: Necropsy examination revealed, enlarged and distended caecal pouches with clotted blood, hemorrhagic caecal mucous membrane, typhlitis. Faecal smears from caecal pouches revealed, unsporulated oocysts of coccidia. Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that coccidiosis was present in the carcass of the bird, indicating the presence of infection in the Aseel flock. The total flock was effectively treated for coccidiosis by 0.024 % amprolium in drinking water for 5 days thereby controlling the spread and death in the Aseel flock.