**6.2.2 Sheep and goats coccidiosis**

Coccidiosis in sheep and goats is caused by protozoa of the genus Eimeria. Coccidiosis is one of the most common, important and higher infection rates disease in lambs and kids that kept in small areas contaminated with oocysts (Radostits et al., 2008).

 In Turkey, the identified species in sheep are E. ahsata, E. bakuensis, E. crandallis, E. granulosa, E. intricata, E. marsica, E. ovinoidalis, E. pallida, E. parva, E. punctata and E. weybridgensis and in goats are E. arloingi, E. christenseni, E. alijevi, E. hicri, E. caprina, E. caprovina, E. jolchijevi, E. apsheronica, E. crandallis, E. fauri, E. granulosa, E. ninakohlyakimovae, E. pallida, E. parva and E. punctata (Arslan and Sari, 2010).

#### **6.3 Pathogenesis**

The pathogenesis of the disease is dependent on the destroy of the crypt cells of the intestinal mucosa because in the ruminant small intestine is very long and providing a high number of host cells and is a potential for parasite replication with minimal damage. Some E. species that invade the large intestin, cause pathological changes, specially when large numbers of oocysts are ingested in a short period of time (Taylor et al., 2007).

In healthy nonimmune animals when number oocysts ingested is low, the animals show no clinical signs of disease but in many oocysts condition, rupture and exfoliation of intestinal cells triggers intestin function and causes loss of blood, fluid, albumin and electrolytes into the intestin. Disaster of mucosal capillaries of intestin can cause to hypoproteinemia and anemia. Secondary bacterial infection may cause severe enteritis(Ballweber, 2009)

#### **6.4 Clinical findings**

In most clinical cases the temperature is normal or subnormal. Disaster of epithelial cells of intestine cause sometimes bloody diarrhea. Dehydration may occur but anemia occasionally may be seen. In severe infections, diarrhea which may be mucoid or bloody, tenesmus, abdominal pain, anorexia, dehydration and weight loss are the common clinical signs in coccidiosis (Radostits et al., 2008; Ballweber, 2009).

In the calves that infected with high number of oocysts may developed dysentery. Clinical coccidiosis occurs rarely in adult cattle (Radostits et al., 2008).

Protozoan Diseases in Farm Ruminants 489

Fig. 8. Cryptosporidium spp. oocyst, calve, carbol- fuchsin staining, 40X

the source of environmental contamination by C. Parvum.

Cryptosporidiosis occur primarily in neonatal calves, but also in lambs and kids (Radostits et al., 2008). One major species, C. Parvum, infects both farm animals and humans (Jones et al., 1997). Cryptosporidiosis is a fairly prevalent disease in many countries, and the disease is one of the most economically important diseases especially in calves and kids in Turkey (Sevinc, 2004). Calves at 1-15 days are at the highest risk (El- Khodery and Osman, 2008). The higher percentage of oocysts excreted is observed in 7-day-old calves (Feitosa et al., 2008). Animals of all ages can be infected, but diarrhea occur only in young animals (Gunn et al., 2009). In young calves there is a significant relationship between season and infection (El- Khodery and Osman, 2008). Infection peaks occur in spring and autumn (Taylor et al., 2007). Castro-Hermida et al.,(2007), suggested that asymptomatic adult sheep and goats are

Cryptosporidium parvum infection, cause a malabsorptive diarrhea (Navarre and Pugh, 2002). Cryptosporium life cycle consist of six developmental stages. After ingestion of the oocyt there is excystation, merogony, gametogony, fertilization, oocyst wall formation, and sporogony.In contrast to other protozoal agents, cryptosporidia do not require fecal excretion for sporulation to infective stages, and they sporulate in the intestine (Navarre and

**7.2 Epidemiology** 

**7.3 Pathogenesis** 

Pugh, 2002; Radostits et al., 2008).

Coccidiosis in lambs is widely similar to that in calves, but dysentery do not usually ocur. In infected kids clinical signs are associated with watery diarrhea, dehydration, anorexia, and weight loss (Ballweber, 2009).
