Studies on site finding and site specificity of Eimeria praecox, Eimeria maxima and Eimeria acervulina in chickens

Sporozoites of 3 species of Eimeria were introduced into the caecum of young chickens. E. praecox and E. maxima failed to develop in this site, but light infections of E. acervulina were detected. Infection of the small intestine with all 3 species occurred when sporozoites were introduced via the caecum. Infections were produced when mucosal scrapings of small intestine from birds, inoculated via the caecum 1-4 h previously, were inoculated orally to susceptible chickens. Experiments with 51Cr-labelled sporozoites of E. praecox introduced in the caecum, confirmed that small numbers of sporozoites are capable of migrating from the lower to the upper intestine. Sporozoites were not transferred with liver tissue from birds given sporozoites via the caecum but were transferred with the liver of chickens given sporozoites intraperitoneally.