Faecal prevalence and histopathological evaluation of coccidiosis in bovine calves

Bovine coccidiois, caused by Eimeria spp. is widely prevalent around the globe and responsible for huge economic losses by causing morbidity and mortality among young calves. The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence as well as to evaluate histopathological alterations associated with it. The faecal samples were collected from 700 bovine calves upto two month of age from August 2019 to July 2021 and screened for Eimeria oocycts. The intestinal tissue samples of 37 calves were also collected which died during the study period after showing symptoms of diarrhea and examined for histological lesions. The faecal prevalence of Eimeria observed in our study was 2.29% (16/700) while in tissue samples only two out of 37 were found positive for Eimeria infection. Tissue sections revealed various stages of Eimeria gametogony, variable congestion, haemorrhage, and necrosis along with cryptic dilatation and mononuclear cell infiltration. Coccidia was not found to be associated with season, age and sex of calf. Bovine coccidiosis was found to be endemic with low prevalence but severe onset characterized by moderate to severe congestion and inflammatory reaction mainly in the ileum and caecum.