Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease with a great impact on poultry farming throughout the world, due to its negative effects on production and the high percentages of mortality it produces. It is caused by different species of protozoa of the Eimeria genus, which cause damage to the intestinal mucosa, altering the digestion and absorption of nutrients, causing growth retardation, worsening food conversion and producing diarrhea of ​​different degrees.

Global and national prevalence in India

The prevalence of coccidiosis in broilers can range between 5% and 70% depending on many factors, such as management, the presence of vectors such as Alphitobius, high temperature and humidity conditions, among many others. But it is estimated that practically all farms are affected by this disease at some time of the year, either in the form of clinical or subclinical coccidiosis.

In the case of India, the prevalence is similar to the global one, and the problem is of great concern, within a sector that is growing to meet the demand for protein of animal origin, from an increasingly growing population. However, the growth of this sector is affected, among other factors, by the high prevalence of various pathologies, among which coccidiosis stands out, given that the country’s humidity and temperature are factors that facilitate outbreaks of the disease.

In the prevalence studies, it is detailed that of the seven species of Eimeria, five are the most abundant: E. tenella, E. necatrix, E. maxima, E. acervulina and E. mitis, being the predominant E. tenella, both in industrialized and backyard farms, followed by E. necatrix and E. maxima. Although there are variations according to the region, in most locations the maximum number of positive cases is observed in the monsoon season, while in summer the prevalence is the lowest.

Coccidiosis control in India

For the control of coccidiosis in India, mainly chemical coccidiostats and ionophores are usually used. However, there is no decrease in outbreaks and prevalence, which indicates that new technologies are required to control this disease. In this sense, intestinal optimizer pronutrients are positioned as an effective tool, which physiologically help improve production parameters on farms where the prevalence of coccidiosis is high.

Intestinal optimizer pronutrients are active molecules of plant origin that stimulate the local immunity of the intestine, in such a way that they promote the mucosa, thanks to a better state of immunity at this level, to be able to control the entry and multiplication of coccidia inside. In this way, the mucosa maintains its nutritional and defensive functions in optimal conditions and improves the conversion rate and the mortality rate in regions where the prevalence of coccidiosis is high. This has been reflected in various experimental and field evaluations, such as the following, carried out in the Meghna delta.

These results have also been corroborated in other regions, such as El Salvador, in South America, whose conditions are similar to those of southern India (such as Chennai, Tamil Nadu), given that they are located on the same 13th parallel north, and in Romania, in the Danube delta region, where there is a tropical climate on the Black Sea coasts, favorable to the multiplication of coccidia. In these locations, decreases in mortality and improvement in feed conversion were observed.

Conclusion

Coccidiosis in India, highly prevalent in the country and especially in the monsoon season, is a disease that causes many economic losses in the poultry sector, with high mortality and a marked worsening of production indices. The need for growth in the sector to supply the country with protein of animal origin, and the lack of efficacy of chemical coccidiostats, makes it necessary the investigation in new technologies to control coccidiosis. Intestinal optimizer pronutrients have been shown to be able to improve the conversion rate and reduce mortality in areas with a high prevalence of coccidiosis, similar to those of the Indian subcontinent, thanks to a physiological stimulation of the local immunity of the intestine. In addition, since they are natural molecules, they do not require a suppression period, they do not leave residues, and they do not generate resistance, advantages that place pronutrients as the primary tool of choice in the conditions of the Indian subcontinent.