Study on the
ability of water supply to contaminate
poultry flocks with coccidia
REPERANT Jean-Michel, LE DU Maryse
French Agency for Food Safety, Zoopôle Les Croix,
AFSSA-Ploufragan,
BP 53, F-22440 PLOUFRAGAN, France
e-mail address : jm.reperant@afssa.fr
Coccidia belonging
to the genus Eimeria are the most frequent parasites
found in poultry. Their occurrence can be of great
economic importance, and they must be controlled control
is in order to maintain performance and profitability
in poultry industry. One way to control the side effects
of these parasites is to reduce the contact of oocysts
with the birds. There are several routes of contamination
of poultry flocks with Eimeria oocysts; some of them
are known, but others remain to be investigated.
The objective
of this study was to investigate the potential carrier
role of drinking water in coccidiosis. This work was
a first approach, focusing on farms supplied with
forage water or surface water. We did not include
farms supplied by the local network of treated water.
Twenty-four farms were investigated. Filters were
placed at water entrance in the building, allowing
the capture of oocysts. The technique was set up and
validated under laboratory conditions, using selected
filters and different sizes of oocysts.
Fecal samples
collected in the investigated farms showed that coccidia
were present in 75% of the flocks. Four water samples
were positive for coccidia, as shown by passage of
the samples on coccidia-free birds. The species found
in the water was Eimeria acervulina, which was also
present in the litter of the considered farms.
These
preliminary results suggest that water can be a potential
carrier of coccidia for chickens. However, further
investigations are needed to confirm this potential
role and to evaluate the impact of climatic factors.
Other forms of water supply could also be considered
in future studies.