Epidemiology and Economic Benefits of Treating Goat Coccidiosis

A study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Eimeria species and to compare the efficacy of Toltrazuril and Amprolium against coccidosis. Of the total 121 fecal samples examined for Eimeria, 67 (55.99%) were found infected with four species of Eimeria. Amongst the identified species, E. ninakohlyakimovae was the commonest one (49.25%) followed were E. arloingi, E. caprina and E. hirci with prevalence of 44.78, 25.37 and 19.40%, respectively. Kids had significantly (P<0.05) higher prevalence of Eimeria than adults. Higher prevalence of Eimeria was observed in female goats. Forty five Eimeria positive animals were randomly divided into three equal groups, i.e., groups A to C. Group A was treated with Amprolium (2g/40kg BW) and group B was treated with Toltrazuril (15mg/kg BW) for three days each while no drug was given to Group C. On day 7 post treatment, all goats of group B stopped shedding oocysts while 8 (53.33%) goats of group A stopped shedding oocysts. After the treatment, goats of group B gained 2.2 kg body weight over a period of 15 days compared 1.2 kg weight in group A. The lowest weight gain (0.5 kg) was in goats of group C (untreated control). No significant difference in milk yield of the three groups was recorded. It can be concluded that control of goat coccidiosis through single treatment of Toltrazuril is economically beneficial.