Pathological and parasitological studies on Eimeria species of naturally infected Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) in Iran

Coccidiosis is recognized as a serious parasitic disease in quail industry recently. But the data on occurrence, clinical signs, species of coccidia and pathological changes in Japanese quail are rare, especially in Iran despite significant improvement of commercial quail breeding in this country in recent decades. Thus, in the present paper was studied natural infection of quail coccidiosis in three commercial rearing farms with 70-80% morbidity and 3-5% mortality rate in Yazd province. For this purpose, fecal sample, oocyst examination and morphological study were performed besides necropsy and histopathology to confirm diagnosis. In the affected birds, clinical signs were including brown diarrhea, weakness, anorexia and pale face. In fecal examination using by morphometric index of oocysts, three species of the genus Eimeria were identified including E. uzura, E. bateri and E. tsunodai. At necropsy, the main gross lesions were edema, congestion and small blood spots in the middle and lower parts of small intestine and upper part of large intestine. At histopathologic examination, endogenous stages of the parasites were observed in the intestine. Also, hyperplasia of the intestinal glands, mild congestion, infiltration of mononuclear cells, and edema was observed. These results presented for the first time in Iran which could be valuable for prevention and treatment of quail coccidiosis. .