عنوان

تشخیص و تعیین آلودگی به گونه های آیمریا و ایزوسپورا در کبوتر اهلی در تبریز به روش میکروسکوپی و هیستوپاتولوژی

Coccidiosis is a protozoan disease with a global prevalence in birds, which is caused by different species of Eimeria as well as Isospora species. Considering the large and widespread keeping of pigeons in different regions of Iran and considering the lack of a similar study in the country, it seems necessary to investigate the level of infection with this common protozoan disease and determine the Eimeria species in this bird. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the level of contamination with two digestive protozoa Eimeria and Isospora and identifying Eimeria species in pigeons. In this research, one hundred pieces of pigeons were collected from Tabriz city in the spring and their feces were examined microscopically and with Clayton-Lin flotation method in terms of contamination with Isospora and Eimeria species. Also, the intestine and cecum of pigeons were examined histopathologically. Out of 100 studied pigeons, 22 samples were infected with Eimeria protozoa (22%) and based on the shape index and morphological characteristics, 4 species ⸲Eimeria labbeana ⸲Eimeria columbarum⸲, Eimeria kapotei and Eimeria livialis were diagnosed. The average OPG in the samples was 241. In the histopathological examination, the lesions observed in the intestinal tissue included mild hyperemia of the submucosal vessels, mild focal bleeding, diffuse chronic edema and focal necrosis in the mucosa and submucosal glands, the edema cells included a mixed population of lymphocytes, plasma cells, Macrophages and a smaller number were heterophils. Parasite sections were also observed in the lining cells of the intestinal mucosa. Based on statistical analysis using SPSS 26 software and with the Mann-Whitney U test, there wasn’t a significant difference between male and female pigeons and mature and immature pigeons in terms of the presence of contamination (p<0.05).