Prevalence and Epidemiology of Bovine Coccidiosis

Bovine coccidiosis occurs worldwide, but some species are more common than others. Amongst various bovine coccidia species, Eimeria bovis, Eimeria zuernii and Eimeria alabamensis are important from a clinical point of view.

Eimeria bovis is one of the most common coccidia in cattle in various parts of the world, although Eimeria zuernii, Eimeria auburnensis and Eimeria ellipsoidalis are also frequently found (Boughton, 1945, Supperer, 1952, Ernst et. al., 1984, Cotteleer and Fameree, 1978; Cornelissen et. al., 1995). 

Oda and Nishida, 1989 identified nine coccidia species in cattle faeces in Japan.

Taylor and Catchpole (1994) mentioned 12 species of coccidia infecting European cattle. Cornelissen et. al. (1995) examined 38 dairy herds in 3 age groups of animals (calves, young animals and adult animals) and found coccidia positive animals in one or more of age groups in all herds. Matjila and Penzhorn (2002) reported the occurrence of Eimeria infections in three localities in South Africa to be between 29 to 52%. Eimeria alabamensis has been demonstrated to be a major cause of early season diarrhoea in first grazing season cattle in Sweden (Gräfner et. al., 1982, Svensson et. al. 1994, 1997).

McKenna (1972) studied the prevalence of coccidian species in cattle in New Zealand and reported 53% of samples were positive for coccidiosis and out of the 10 species of Eimeria  identified, Eimeria bovis and Eimeria zuernii were most common.

Rinaldi et. al. (2004) reported on coprological survey on 81 farms in Sothern Italy, all the farms were positive for Eimeria oocysts and 74.3% of the animals tested were positive. Most common species of coccidia reported was Eimeria bovis (87.7%) ,followed by Eimeria zuernii  (43.2%).

Mundt et. al., 2005, looked into the epidemiology of clinical coccidiosis due to Eimeria bovis and Eimeria zuernii in Europe and the Czech Republic. Eleven out of the sixteen farms they investigated were positive for Eimeria bovis and/or Eimeria zuernii.

Arslan and Tüzer (1998) examined the cattle faecal samples from the European part of Turkey and reported 36% samples positive for Eimeria bovis and 26% positive for Eimeria zuernii.

Recent prevalence studies conducted in Benelux, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain showed high incidence of pathogenic coccidia species Eimeria bovis and Eimeria zuernii in cattle. Off 288 farms examined,179 ( 62.15%) tested positive for Eimeria bovis and or  Eimeria zuernii. The results are shown in the table.

The prevalence of coccidia in different age group animals from different countries is summarized in the table.

Coccidiosis due to Eimeria bovis and Eimeria zuernii is primarily seen in housed animals. Clinical signs are often seen when calves are moved to housing that has been contaminated by the faeces of calves that lived in the housing earlier. Cows have been shown to contribute to environmental contamination through the periparturient rise in Eimeria bovis oocyst counts (Faber et. al., 2002). Svensson et. al.,1997, demonstrated that Eimeria alabamensis  oocysts can survive on pasture over the winter in sufficient numbers and can cause clinical disease in calves within a week after release to the infected pasture. Infection with Eimeria alabamensis can occur in housed calves, for example, if they are fed hay prepared from contaminated pastures.