Eimeria is characterized by spore cases that contain four spores, each with two infective sporozoites. The Eimeria lie within the family Eimeriidae. This genus has ~75% of the species within this family. and it is the most specious of the genera of the Apicomplexia with 1,700 described species. Symptoms of Eimeria infection include bloody diarrhea due to intestinal epithelium dying off since a large number of oocysts and merozoites burst out of the cells. Necrotic tissue clogs the cecum causing the organ to die.
Medications are available for the parasite; however, drug resistance is common as well as possible drug residues in the meat once the animal is butchered. Vaccines have been developed but one vaccine will only cover one species and not others. So far the best practice is to vaccinate the chicks once they hatch from the egg so they are immune for life (Wiki: Eimeria).
Protein Note :
Profilin binds actin monomers, membrane polyphosphoinositides such as PI(4,5)P2, and poly-L-proline. Profilin can inhibit actin polymerization into F-actin by binding to monomeric actin (G-actin) and terminal F-actin subunits, but - as a regulator of the...; cl00123
Efficacy:
Significantly decreased oocyst shedding was observed following injection of the 25- and 50-ug 3-1E DNA groups compared with the pcDNA vector-only group (P < 0.05). Also, significantly increased weight gains were seen following vaccination with 10, 25, or 50 ug of 3-1E DNA, compared with the pcDNA empty-vector group (P < 0.05). Taken together, these results indicated that in-ovo vaccination with the 3-1E gene induced partial protection against experimental coccidiosis (Lillehoj et al., 2005).
In ovo delivery using proprietary platform injection system(Shirley et al., 2005)
IV. References
1. Lillehoj et al., 2005: Lillehoj HS, Ding X, Quiroz MA, Bevensee E, Lillehoj EP. Resistance to intestinal coccidiosis following DNA immunization with the cloned 3-1E Eimeria gene plus IL-2, IL-15, and IFN-gamma. Avian diseases. 2005; 49(1); 112-117. [PubMed: 15839423].
2. Min et al., 2001: Min W, Lillehoj HS, Burnside J, Weining KC, Staeheli P, Zhu JJ. Adjuvant effects of IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-8, IL-15, IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma TGF-beta4 and lymphotactin on DNA vaccination against Eimeria acervulina. Vaccine. 2001; 20(1-2); 267-274. [PubMed: 11567773].
3. Shirley et al., 2005: Shirley MW, Smith AL, Tomley FM. The biology of avian Eimeria with an emphasis on their control by vaccination. Advances in parasitology. 2005; 60; 285-330. [PubMed: 16230106].
