Eimeria species in dairy goats in Brazil

The focus of this work is to determine the distribution and identify species of Eimeria parasites of dairy goats in the livestock of the National Goat and Sheep Research Center in Sobral, State of Ceará, Northeast Brazil. Results showed the presence of multiple species in 196 of 215 analyzed samples (91.2%). Fifty five out of these were from kids (28%) and 141 from adult goats (72%). Eight different Eimeria species were identified and their prevalence in the herd was: Eimeria alijevi Musaev, 1970 (26.7%), E. arloingi (Marotel, 1905) Martin, 1909 (20.6%), E. hirci Chevalier, 1966 (18%), E. ninakohlyakimovae Yakimoff & Rastegaieff, 1930 (16.2%), E. jolchijevi Musaev, 1970 (8.7%), E. christenseni Levine, Ivens & Fritz, 1962 (6%), E. caprovina Lima, 1980 (2.8%) and E. caprina Lima, 1979 (1%). Moreover, E. ninakohlyakimovae showed higher prevalence in kids (97%), followed by E. arloingi and E. alijevi (88%). On the other hand, E. alijevi (77%) was more common in adult goats followed by E. hirci (74%) and E. ninakohlyakimovae (70%). The species E. caprina had low frequency in both kids (27%) and adult goats (13%). Data indicated that infection was relatively common among kids and adult goats. The implementation of a routine diagnostic strategy can be useful in maintaining Eimeria populations under monitoring and will enable the determination of its potential impact on dairy goat herds in Northeast Brazil.