Watch out for coccidiosis as rains start

Free range chicken and (inset) Dr Sylviah Achieng, a technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health Company. Poultry with coccidiosis can suffer several diseases including severe diarrhoea, which seriously affects the birds’ health. PHOTOS | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • The parasite normally damages the cells of poultry intestines, causing mild to severe intestinal inflammation, facilitating the occurrence of other diseases.
  • Farmers should use anti-coccidials to control the disease and maintain good intestinal health and animal welfare. Anti-coccidials are drugs used to prevent rapid multiplication of the parasite in the intestinal tract, thus maintaining good health and animal welfare.
  • Effective coccidiosis control ensures that the birds can effectively absorb the nutrients from feeds, converting them to meat/muscle growth and significantly reducing the amount of feed required to produce a kilo of meat.
  • High levels of ammonia in the air make birds more susceptible to respiratory infections and diseases, which further increase the cost of production.

With the long rains season having started in most parts of the country, one of the afflictions poultry farmers have to contend with is coccidiosis.

Magdalene Wanja spoke to Dr Sylviah Achieng, a technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health Company on what farmers can do to protect their birds from the disease

What causes coccidiosis?

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease that affects all poultry on all types of farms; that is indoor, outdoor, conventional or organic, large or small backyard flocks.

Birds are infected by microscopic parasites called ‘coccidia’, an extremely fast-reproducing organism always present in the environment of all poultry species.

The parasite normally damages the cells of poultry intestines, causing mild to severe intestinal inflammation, facilitating the occurrence of other diseases.

Birds with coccidiosis can suffer from severe diarrhoea and are more susceptible to other diseases, which seriously affect their health and well-being.
How is it transmitted?

All ‘coccidia’ parasites are naturally present in the environment of all animals, including wild birds. Although hygiene and good farming practices are at the core of any control programme for coccidiosis, they alone will not prevent the disease.

Farmers should use anti-coccidials to control the disease and maintain good intestinal health and animal welfare. Anti-coccidials are drugs used to prevent rapid multiplication of the parasite in the intestinal tract, thus maintaining good health and animal welfare.

They are administered to the animals via feeds or water. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) considers anti-coccidials of crucial importance for the health and welfare of poultry.

Why should farmers care about this disease?

Poultry with coccidiosis can suffer several diseases including severe diarrhoea, which seriously affects the birds’ health.

In certain circumstances, coccidiosis can be fatal.

Feed accounts for at least 70 per cent of production costs. Coccidiosis severely affects the birds’ ability to absorb these nutrients for growth because of the destruction it causes to the cells that line the intestines, leading to losses.

Effective coccidiosis control ensures that the birds can effectively absorb the nutrients from feeds, converting them to meat/muscle growth and significantly reducing the amount of feed required to produce a kilo of meat.

Wet droppings from birds likewise lead to other unfavourable farm conditions such as increased levels of fly infestation and ammonia production in farm barns.

High levels of ammonia in the air make birds more susceptible to respiratory infections and diseases, which further increase the cost of production.

Rains have become heavy and erratic, dry spells are also common due to climate change. Is the weather to blame for the rise in coccidiosis incidence?

Certainly, the weather is partly to blame for the rise in coccidiosis cases. Wet humid conditions favour the sporulation of cocci oocysts.

The level of infection through the number of oocysts in the environment also plays a major role, hence one should properly clean chicken houses and collect and dispose of chicken litter and manure in between production cycles.

Your organisation recently launched a drug called Maxiban to combat coccidiosis, how is it different from the rest of the drugs in the market?
What makes it different is that it has a combination of an ionophore and chemical coccidiostat, which offers better protection against coccidiosis.

Anti-coccidials are scientifically sound and have over 40 years proven to be the most effective way to protect birds against the disease, which is always present in poultry.