Studies on Ovine Coccidiosis in Menoof District, Menoufia, Egypt

Ovine coccidiosis is an enteric protozoal disease caused by obligatory intracellular Eimeria spp. (Family: Eimeridae) and cause severe economic losses in sheep industry. The present studywas conducted in Menoof district, Menoufia, Egypt from January to December 2019 to determine the prevalence of sheep coccidiosis and to identify the recovered Eimeria spp. Faeces of 610 randomly selected sheep were collected directly from rectum and subjected to parasitological examination (floatation technique). The results revealed that Eimeria spp. were detected in 33.3 % (203 out of 610). The prevalence was significantly influenced by season, age and sex of the examined sheep. Six Eimeria species were identified: Eimeria parva 78 (38.4%), Eimeria ahasta 30 (14.8%), Eimeria granulosa 29 (14.3%), Eimeria pallida 43 (21.2%), Eimeria fauri 10 (4.9%) and Eimeria crandalis 13 (6.4%). This is the first report of ovine coccidiosis in Menoufia, Egypt. Further studies as molecular diagnosis is required to easily discriminate different Eimeria species infecting sheep.