Control of Coccidiosis in Turkeys

Some ionophoric coccidiostats, like lasalocid and monensin are routinely used in turkey growers, typically at 10 to 12 weeks of age. Afterwards, turkey producers must rely on the natural immunity of the birds, and if this immunity did not develop properly due to the efficacy of the in-feed anticoccidial or the challenge is too high or other parameters influencing the immune system, clinical outbreaks may occur.

Another critical period when coccidiosis may appear is between the third and sixth week of age, becoming more prominent in the fourth week. In certain countries, outbreaks may also coincide with certain management practices such as vaccination against haemorrhagic enteritis.

Some important points to consider when developing a control programme for a turkey farm is that some in-feed anticoccidials are toxic for turkeys or their safety index is very low. For example, salinomycin intoxication can cause symptoms such as anorexia, apathy, diarrhoea and paralysis of wings and legs, leading to mortality of the animals.

It is also important to consider the incompatibilities between therapeutics and coccidiostats such as monensin and tiamulin.

In some countries, live vaccines that contains E. meleagrimitis, E. adenoides, E. gallopavis and E. dispersa are available. 

The main hurdle for the vaccine is that application must be uniform to all the birds in order to develop proper flock immunity, preventing those birds that were not able to achieve the correct vaccination dose and develop the proper immunity from presenting clinical signs of coccidiosis.

In case of outbreaks, some of the drugs that are used to treat turkeys include sulphaquinoxaline (0.05%), sulphadimethoxine (0.025%), sulphamethazine (0.2 %), sulphachloropyrazine (0.03%) and amprolium (0.006-0.024%). Nonetheless, the spectrum of activity of most of these compounds is limited to some Eimeria species.

Baycox® (Toltrazuril) is efficacious against all the development stages of all important turkey Eimeria species.