BACKGROUND:While Cystoisospora suis is well established as a primary pathogen in suckling piglets, it can also infect weaned piglets. In this context, we investigated its co-infection with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), a major cause of post-weaning diarrhea. METHODS:Weaned piglets were randomly divided into four groups: a negative control group (NC), an ETEC single-infection group (EC), a C. suis single-infection group (CS), and a co-infection group (EC-CS). Following infection, clinical symptoms were recorded, and samples were collected to evaluate intestinal histopathological damage, expression of tight junction protein genes, inflammatory cytokine levels, and gut microbiota changes. RESULTS:Compared to single-infection groups, piglets in the co-infection group exhibited more severe diarrhea, growth retardation, and intestinal damage, characterized by near-total loss of villus and crypt structures. Co-infection significantly impaired intestinal barrier function, as evidenced by a marked downregulation of claudin-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression compared to both single-infection groups, and triggered more intense local and systemic inflammatory responses. 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing revealed that co-infection exacerbated gut microbiota dysbiosis and promoted the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. CONCLUSIONS:Co-infection with C. suis and ETEC exerts a synergistic pathogenic effect in weaned piglets. The mechanism involves a vicious cycle of intestinal barrier disruption, microbiota dysbiosis, and amplified inflammatory responses. These findings provide a novel theoretical basis for the clinical prevention and control of complex intestinal co-infections.

Biological characterization of geographic strains of Eimeria brunetti was conducted to inform control strategies. The prepatent period was consistent (118-122 h) across strains, though the Baoding 2 strain exhibited the highest reproductive capacity while the Zhangzhou strain induced the most severe intestinal lesions. Infection significantly impaired weight gain and intestinal integrity, with optimal oocyst sporulation occurring at 25% litter moisture. Immunization with field strains elevated IgY levels and modulated cytokine responses. Upon challenge, immunized birds demonstrated improved weight gain, reduced lesions, and markedly lower oocyst output. Notably, an attenuated precocious strain conferred strong protection, reducing oocyst shedding by 93.61-99.92%. These findings demonstrate the significant pathogenicity of E. brunetti in Chinese yellow-feathered broilers and establish substantial cross-protection among geographic strains, supporting the potential for a broadly effective vaccine. The attenuated precocious line represents a promising vaccine candidate that could help address this gap in protection.

Cystoisospora suis is a highly pathogenic porcine coccidian species that causes severe enteric disease in neonatal piglets. This study investigated how primary infection with C. suis modulates the gut microbiota and systemic immunity and shapes the host's response to a secondary challenge. Piglets were assigned to four groups: uninfected control (NC), early infection only (EI; 500 oocysts at 5 days), late infection only (LI; 5000 oocysts at 19 days), and early + late infection (EL; 500 oocysts at 5 days + 5000 oocysts at 19 days). Compared to the LI group, the EL group exhibited a markedly attenuated infection phenotype, demonstrating a 98.79% reduction in fecal oocyst shedding. At 8 days post-challenge, 16S rRNA sequencing and transcriptomic analyses were performed on intestinal segments and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). RNA sequencing revealed significant upregulation of immune-related genes in PBMCs of the LI group, including IFNG, TNF, STAT1, CCL2, CXCL10, GBP1, and GBP2, associated with inflammatory and antimicrobial responses. This response was markedly attenuated in the EL group. 16S rRNA analysis showed higher microbial alpha diversity in the cecum than in the jejunum and ileum. Post-challenge, the LI group displayed reduced ileal and cecal diversity (particularly ileum) and increased Escherichia-Shigella abundance. In contrast, the EL group maintained elevated proportions of taxa such as Lactobacillus and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, indicating that primary infection mitigates challenge-induced dysbiosis. Spearman correlation analysis revealed significant microbiota-immune associations. The relative abundance of genera such as Turicibacter and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 was negatively correlated with pro-inflammatory genes (e.g., CCL2, CCL4). In contrast, the Escherichia-Shigella was positively correlated with immune effector genes (e.g., GBP1, XCL1), reflecting an active host defense response. These findings demonstrate that primary C. suis infection modulates the host's response to secondary infection by reshaping systemic immunity and the gut microbiota, providing mechanistic insights that could inform future anticoccidial strategies in swine.

Coccidiosis is a prevalent disease in poultry industry, causing significant economic losses. Vaccine immunization has been developed as an effective method to prevent coccidiosis. In China, the traditional method for coccidiosis vaccination in the poultry industry involves the using water troughs and powder drinking water adjuvants for chick immunization via drinking. However, as the breeding industry evolves rapidly, water troughs are progressively being replaced by water lines. This article introduces an innovative immunization approach—waterline immunization—utilizing a novel microencapsulated drinking water adjuvant. The oocyst suspension effects of microencapsulated drinking adjuvants and powder drinking adjuvants was compared in water with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) values ranging from 0 to 1000 ppm. The findings revealed that the microencapsulated drinking adjuvant could ensure stable suspension of oocysts in water with TDS values from 0 to 1000 ppm for 6 h. Experimental chickens were vaccinated with a coccidiosis trivalent live vaccines using four distinct immunization methods: spray immunization, powder water bottle immunization, microencapsulated waterline immunization, and feed mixing immunization. The effectiveness of these four immunization methods was assessed by comparing the tip staining rate and the average number of oocysts per chicken post-immunization. The results showed that the average number of oocysts per chicken, from 96 to 168 h post-immunization, decreased in the following order: microencapsulated waterline immunization, powder water bottle immunization, feed mixing immunization, and spray immunization. Waterline immunization is a convenient and efficient immunization approach, particularly suitable for large-scale poultry farms to achieve uniform flock immunization. It represents a promising new option for the prevention of coccidiosis in the breeding industry.

Vaccines play a crucial role in the prevention and control of chicken coccidiosis, effectively reducing economic losses in the poultry industry and significantly improving animal welfare. To ensure the production quality and immune effect of vaccines, accurate detection of chicken Coccidia oocysts in vaccine is essential. However, this task remains challenging due to the minute size of oocysts, variable spatial orientation, and morphological similarity among species. Therefore, we propose YOLO-Cocci, a chicken coccidia detection model based on YOLOv8n, designed to improve the detection accuracy of chicken coccidia oocysts in vaccine environments. Firstly, an efficient multi-scale attention (EMA) module was added to the backbone to enhance feature extraction and enable more precise focus on oocyst regions. Secondly, we developed the inception-style multi-scale fusion pyramid network (IMFPN) as an efficient neck. By integrating richer low-level features and applying convolutional kernels of varying sizes, IMFPN effectively preserves the features of small objects and enhances feature representation, thereby improving detection accuracy. Finally, we designed a lightweight feature-reconstructed and partially decoupled detection head (LFPD-Head), which enhances detection accuracy while reducing both model parameters and computational cost. The experimental results show that YOLO-Cocci achieves an mAP@0.5 of 89.6%, an increase of 6.5% over the baseline model, while reducing the number of parameters and computation by 14% and 12%, respectively. Notably, in the detection of Eimeria necatrix, mAP@0.5 increased by 14%. In order to verify the application effect of the improved detection algorithm, we developed client software that can realize automatic detection and visualize the detection results. This study will help improve the level of automated assessment of vaccine quality and thus promote the improvement of animal welfare.

Pigeon coccidiosis caused by Eimeria spp. is an important veterinary disease with a significant economic impact on the pigeon industry. Preventive measures for Eimeria columbarum in pigeons have been hampered by the lack of extensive genetic, morphological, and biological data on the oocysts. In this study, we examined the prevalence and identity of Eimeria spp. in domestic pigeons from seven cities in Guangdong Province, China. Data show that coccidiosis was prevalent in domestic pigeons in Guangdong Province, with an overall Eimeria spp. detection rate of 73.4%. Five Eimeria species were identified, including E. columbarum (73.4%), Eimeria kapotei (25.6%), Eimeria labbeana (19.6%), Eimeria duculai (19.6%), and Eimeria tropicalis (6.7%). We obtained single oocyst-derived lines of the dominant E. columbarum from fecal specimens. E. columbarum oocysts measured 20.06 +/- 0.69 mu m x 18.63 +/- 1.03 mu m, and sporocysts measured 10.29 +/- 0.82 mu m x 85.38 +/- 0.46 mu m. In infection experiment using obtained E. columbarum isolates, 60-day-old coccidia-free pigeons exhibited a prepatent period of 105 h and patent period of 9-10 days followed by severe diarrhea, depression, anorexia, and emaciation. Endogenous development of the parasite was observed mainly in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and rectum. Two generations of meronts developed on days 3 and 4 after infection, respectively, while gamont and gamete developed on day 5 after infection. The morphological, genetic, and biological data are expected to be useful in elucidating the biological characterization of pigeon coccidiosis to develop measures against the treatment and containment of this disease.

为了探索猪场灭蝇的有效手段,完善猪场生物安全体系,本试验选取某规模化猪场8栋猪舍,饲喂环丙氨嗪以控制粪便中家蝇幼虫孳生,在猪舍内喷雾和撒布甲基吡啶磷以杀灭成蝇.分析和比较用药前、后家蝇幼虫的发育情况和死亡率,以及家蝇成虫的密度,以评估2种药物在猪场联合使用的灭蝇效果.结果显示,给猪饲喂环丙氨嗪前(第1、4天)所采集粪便中的家蝇幼虫发育过程完整,死亡率较低,分别为32.7％和12.3％,用药后(第7、10、13、16、19、21天),所采集粪便中的幼虫发育停滞,死亡率均达100％;甲基吡啶磷喷雾用药5 d后,家蝇平均密度为1.88只/(张·时),与不用药对照[平均密度2.72只/(张·时)]相比下降了 30.98％;改用撒药5 d后,家蝇平均密度为0.11只/(张·时),与喷雾用药相比下降了94.12％.结果表明,环丙氨嗪和甲基吡啶磷联合使用的灭蝇方案起到良好的效果.

为探究重铬酸钾(PD)对基于DNA提取鉴定粪便样品中鸡球虫感染类型结果的影响,将2.5%PD暂存的新鲜鸡粪样品随机分成 4 组,分别用 3 mL PD、2mLPD和 1 mL ddH2 O、1 mL PD和2 mL ddH2 O、3 mL ddH2 O,以 1mL/次,先 PD后 ddH2 O 的方法对鸡粪样品进行洗涤.洗涤结束后取上清液,测OD490 值;重悬沉淀,取200 μL/管提取DNA,进行PCR扩增及其产物的琼脂糖凝胶电泳检测,同设阳性、空白对照和不同循环数对照.用超微量核酸蛋白浓度测定仪检测PCR产物浓度并进行统计学分析.结果表明:随ddH2 O洗涤次数增多,所得上清的OD490值逐步降低,洗涤 2 次时,与ddH2 O对照组间差异不明显;对提取所得的DNA进行PCR扩增时,分别得到片段大小约为 601 bp和 702 bp的条带,空白对照组无此条带,且所用Nec-F/R引物的扩增较Bru-F/R引物的特异性高,36 个循环数较30 个和33 个循环的电泳效果好,且所得PCR产物浓度间均差异不明显.结果表明,PD对基于 DNA 提取鉴定粪样中布氏艾美耳球虫和毒害艾美耳球虫两种鸡球虫感染类型的结果无明显影响,可用于流行病学调查样品采集.

Abstract Porcine isosporosis is a highly pathogenic parasite that has become one of the most important diseases responsible for piglet diarrhea, weight loss, and mortality, resulting in significant economic losses for the pig sector. Currently, fecal examination, primarily using the saturated saline flotation technique, is a standard approach for detecting Isospora suis oocysts in piglets with porcine isosporosis. However, fecal samples often include too many contaminants that float on the liquid surface, resulting in a blurred visual field under microscopy and lowering the accuracy of Isosporaidentification. This study used urea as a flotation solution to enhance and improve the Isospora fecal examination technique. Simultaneously, soap granules (sodium salts of fatty acids) and a silicate defoaming agent were employed to reduce the impact of protein, fat, and air bubbles in piglet feces, resulting in an improved swine Isospora fecal detection technique. Clinical assessment of piglet fecal samples from three pig farms revealed that the positive rate of porcine isosporosis increased, and the detection rate increased by nearly five times. This approach is simple and effective. It is appropriate for clinical use as it allows for the prompt formulation of preventative and control plans, therefore helping to reduce economic losses caused by porcine isosporosis.

鸽球虫病是一种主要危害幼鸽的重要而常见的细胞内寄生虫病,由一种或多种艾美耳属球虫寄生于鸽肠道内所引起.该病在养殖场中广泛存在,几乎所有鸽场均有感染,患病幼鸽的死亡率达5％～70％.近年来,我国养鸽业发展迅猛,鸽球虫病问题愈发突出,但相比养鸡业,国内外对鸽球虫病的研究较少,缺乏系统性的总结分析.文章综述了国内外鸽球虫病的感染情况、鸽球虫生物学特性的研究进展,并介绍了防治鸽球虫病的主要措施,以期为鸽球虫病的研究提供一定参考.

为研究球虫病疫苗喷淋免疫接种1日龄雏鸡的免疫效果以及混入少量未免疫鸡后的群体免疫效果,试验采用喷淋免疫方式对1日龄麻黄鸡进行鸡球虫病四价活疫苗免疫接种(喷淋免疫组),混入10%的未免疫鸡(混养免疫组)标记后与喷淋免疫组进行地面平养混养,并设不免疫不攻虫的空白对照组和不免疫仅攻虫的阳性对照组.喷淋免疫组、混养免疫组经垫料中球虫生活史循环的自然首免、二免、三免后和阳性对照组于32日龄时分别进行混合强毒虫株53万/只(含堆型13万、柔嫩17万、巨型23万)和毒害强毒虫株12万/只攻虫.检测各组免疫后的卵囊产量、卵囊检出率和疫苗反应以及攻虫后的增重和肠道病变计分情况.结果显示,喷淋免疫组免疫后第6～8天的卵囊检出率为80%～95%;经自然二免循环后,喷淋免疫组和混养免疫组的卵囊检出率均达到100%,排卵高峰期和卵囊产量趋于同步,喷淋免疫组平均肠道病变记分在0～0.1.攻虫后,喷淋免疫组(攻混合强毒虫株的为85.8%、攻毒害强毒虫株的为99.5%)和混养免疫组(99.9%、101.7%)的相对增重率远高于阳性对照组(9.6%、32.2%).喷淋免疫组混合强毒株攻虫后十二指肠、盲肠及毒害强毒株攻虫后的小肠中段肠道病变记分显著低于阳性对照组(P＜0.05).以上结果表明,1日龄雏鸡喷淋接种球虫疫苗可建立良好的免疫保护,掺入10%未免疫的鸡也能通过自然循环建立足够的免疫保护力.

本实验旨在比较球虫疫苗的喷淋免疫方法和传统饮水免疫方法在WOD168肉鸡养殖生产中应用效果评价.选择进苗时间相近的16户饲养WOD168肉鸡的养殖户,分为喷淋免疫组和饮水免疫组,每户养殖量8 000羽以上.喷淋免疫组鸡苗1天龄时在孵化场进行球虫疫苗的接种,而饮水免疫组鸡苗到达养殖地点进行疫苗接种.通过比较2组的生产性能和防治球虫药费,发现所有组别整个饲养周期均未发生球虫病,说明喷淋免疫和饮水免疫均能使鸡群对球虫病产生坚强保护力.同时喷淋免疫组在鸡群成活率和上市均重均优于饮水免疫组,说明喷淋免疫法更适合WOD168肉鸡的球虫疫苗免疫.

试验收集了湖南、浙江、福建、广东等4省8市的规模化猪场各阶段猪的粪便样品74份和肠道样品15份,以及现场采集了广州某生猪屠宰场肝脏和肺脏样各30份共计149份样品,对产气荚膜梭菌在猪中的感染情况进行流行病学调查.处理样品后进行产气荚膜梭菌的分离培养,16s rDNA PCR并测序鉴定阳性菌株,后进行毒素型分析.结果表明,猪产气荚膜梭菌的总检出率为20.81％,其中粪样的阳性率为13.51％,肠样的阳性率为33.33％,肺脏和肝脏的阳性率为26.67％;哺乳仔猪和后备母猪的产气荚膜梭菌阳性率分别为22.73％和14.29％;毒素分型结果表明分离到的31株产气荚膜梭菌全部为A型菌株,其中74.19％的菌株携带Cpb2毒素基因.研究结果为猪产气荚膜梭菌的防控提供流行病学数据.

兔球虫病是养兔业常见及危害最严重的一种寄生虫病,给养兔业造成巨大的经济损失,幼兔感染严重者甚至引起死亡,成年兔一般呈耐性感染.目前兔球虫病的防控主要以药物防控为主,不合理的抗球虫药物使用容易导致虫株耐药性、药物残留和毒性等问题的出现.随着减抗、替抗和禁抗养殖的持续推进,本文介绍可行的化学药物、中药、微生态制剂和饲养管理方面的防控策略,为养兔业的健康持续发展保驾护航.

1寄生虫概况 1.1寄生虫(parasite)概念 寄生虫是指一种动物,暂时或永久地居住在另外一种动物即宿主或寄主(host)中,同时,对被寄生动物造成损害,夺取其营养物质来维持自身生存、发育和繁殖.因此,寄生虫病属于一种消耗性疾病. 1.2寄生虫生物学特点 (1)大多数寄生虫都是较为温和的病原体,少量的寄生虫感染一般不会引起明显的发病症状.(2)寄生虫繁殖能力比较强,后代数量庞大,如1条鸡蛔虫每天可随粪排出7万左右个虫卵,而1个球虫每天可随粪排出数十万个卵囊.(3)虫卵或卵囊在外界环境中存活时间比较长,有较强的适应性和抵抗力,能够抵御多种不良环境因素,包括常用的消毒剂等.(4)大多数寄生虫都拥有一个相对固定的生活史,寄生虫种类繁多,发育周期繁简不一,虫卵或幼虫一般需要在宿主体外发育到感染期或经中间宿主后再感染.

为了解广东省规模化肉鸽场鸽毛滴虫流行情况,探明鸽毛滴虫病流行感染规律,本研究采取随机抽样方法以及培养-镜检法,对广东省6个地区的12个集约化肉鸽养殖场鸽毛滴虫感染情况进行调查.共采集到鸽口腔黏液样品462份和环境物料样品247份,结果显示毛滴虫阳性率分别为为30.7％和1.2％.河源地区和佛山地区的鸽毛滴虫感染率较高,分别为60.0％和50.0％;在不同日龄鸽群中,青年鸽毛滴虫感染率最高(53.3％),乳鸽次之(33.2％),种鸽的毛滴虫感染率最低;不同管理条件中,种鸽引进方式为自繁自养,环境温湿度及时进行调控和用药消毒合理的,毛滴虫感染率较低.对分离到的部分鸽毛滴虫分离株进行基因型分析,结果发现11株鸽毛滴虫的基因型为A型或B型,本研究为鸽毛滴虫病的防控和研究提供了相关临床数据.

采用人工感染试验,利用抗球虫指数(ACI)、最适抗球虫活性百分率(POAA)、病变记分减少率(RLS)和相对卵囊产量(ROP)4项指标,综合评价了1株分离自广东省云浮市规模化蛋鸡养殖场的鸡球虫对12种常用抗球虫药和2个联合用药组合的耐药性.结果显示,综合评价未发现该蛋鸡养殖场球虫分离株的敏感药物,分离株对磺胺氯吡嗪钠、莫能菌素、甲基盐霉素3种药物完全耐药,对微囊盐霉素、盐霉素钠、氯羟吡啶、二硝托胺、海南霉素钠、拉沙洛西钠、马杜霉素铵和尼卡巴嗪8种药物重度耐药,对马杜霉素铵与尼卡巴嗪、甲基盐霉素与尼卡巴嗪这2组联合用药组合重度耐药,仅对常山酮表现为中度耐药.该球虫分离株存在多重耐药性且对大部分受试药物耐药严重,建议该养殖场使用更敏感的抗球虫药或者使用球虫疫苗以加强球虫病的防控.

为给广东新兴地区林禽刺螨的分类鉴别提供参考依据和进一步研究种内系统发生关系,试验采集广东省新兴县车岗镇、水台镇和簕竹镇3个镇鸡养殖场流行的疑似林禽刺螨进行电镜形态学观察,并基于cox1基因进行分子生物学鉴定及其遗传多态性分析.结果显示:新兴县3个镇鸡养殖场均流行鸡林禽刺螨,获得的14条鸡林禽刺螨cox1基因片段大小均为560bp,有2个位点缺失突变,共检测到552个保守位点和6个变异位点,定义了 3种单倍型(Hap-1～Hap-3);总群体单倍型指数为0.385,遗传多样性不高(π=0.003 19);扩增的3个地理种群与鸡林禽刺螨瑞典株OS1、中国株WB31聚为同一分支,具有99.5％以上相似性;3个地理种群大小并未经历过明显种群扩张.研究表明,鸡林禽刺螨种群虽有一定程度的遗传分化,但未形成明显的地理谱系结构.研究结果为进一步研究林禽刺螨种内系统发生关系奠定了基础.

本试验旨在比较鸡球虫疫苗和抗球虫药在白羽鸡肉鸡养殖中的应用效果和经济效益.选择1日龄的白羽肉鸡,随机分为鸡球虫疫苗免疫组和抗球虫药对照组,每组分别设2个重复组.鸡球虫疫苗免疫组于1天龄时接种鸡球虫病三价活疫苗,饲喂不含抗球虫药的饲料;抗球虫药对照组不做球虫病疫苗免疫,饲料中全程添加12％盐霉素(500g/t).通过比较生产性能和鸡球虫病防控效果,发现2组在存活率、出栏体重、料肉比和欧洲经济效益指数差异不显著;整个饲养过程中,2个组别的鸡只均未发生球虫病.结果表明,使用球虫疫苗和抗球虫药都能有效防控鸡球虫病,但前者无抗球虫药物残留的风险.

The genetic diversity and differentiation of four geographic populations of Neoschongastia gallinarum were evaluated using concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences (pCOI, pCOII, and pND5). Based on the results, the N. gallinarum populations had high genetic diversity and strong ecological adaptability. Genetic differentiation among paired populations calculated using concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences revealed that geographic isolation resulted in genetic differentiation among the populations of N. gallinarum, and gene flow between populations associated with human trade activities. Systematic development and molecular variance based on haplotypes revealed that genetic variation existed in different haplotypes; however, no clear rule related to geographic region was found. Further, genetic variation was mainly derived from individuals within the population. A neutral test based on concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences and nucleotide pair differences revealed that N. gallinarum did not experience an obvious population expansion in recent historical periods. Accordingly, the population size was relatively stable.