Coccidial infection in mouflon, Ovis musimon, in central Spain

From February to September 1993, ten adult female mouflons (Ovis musimon) and their five offspring from central Spain were examined weekly for coccidial infection. All adult mouflons had Eimeria spp. infections with mean (+/- SD) intensity of 1,869 (+/- 1,264) oocysts per gram of feces the day of capture, increasing progressively during the first two months in captivity and later returning to the initial values (1,869 +/- 1,547). The mean (+/- SD) oocyst shedding in young animals was 16,800 (+/- 966) oocysts per gram at 1 mo and 18,796 (+/- 1,220) at 1.5 mo of age and more than 40,000 (40,250 to 52,000) at 3 mo of age; this high intensity was associated with a transient diarrhea. The species involved, in order of frequency, were E. bakuensis (syn. Eimeria ovina), E. ovinoidalis, E. crandallis, E. caprovina, E. parva, E. faurei, E. granulosa and E. intricata, and one more not previously described and recorded as Eimeria sp.. The predominant species for both age groups was E. bakuensis.