BRIEF COMMUNICATION
A Survey of Elmeria spp.
in Cattle in Central
Alberta
Murray J. Kennedy and Robert
A. Kralka
Alberta Agriculture, Animal
Health Division, Pathology
Branch, 6909 116 Street,
- Sheather's sugar solution was used
Edmonton, Alberta T6H 4P2
There are only a few published
reports describing the species
of bovine coccidia in Canada (1, 2,
3, 4), and most deal with cattle from
Ontario. Identifying the species of
bovine coccidia is useful, because of
differences in coccidial pathogenic-
ity. Two bovine species (E. zuernii
and E. bovis) are known pathogens,
causing morbidity and mortality
especially in cattle confined to feed-
lots (5, 6).
Eimeria bovis was the most
prevalent species found in
the present survey.
The objective of this study was to
identify the species of Eimeria
present and their prevalence in
cattle in central Alberta.
From November 1984, to July
1985, colonic content from 131 cat-
tle submitted to the Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory, Alberta
Agriculture, Edmonton was exam-
ined for oocysts of coccidia. All
cattle older than one month of age
and submitted either living, or
within twenty-four hours of death
were sampled. The cattle were from
farms within central Alberta. A
diagnosis of clinical coccidiosis was
based on the history and post-
mortem findings; the age of the
Can Vet J 1987, 28:124-125
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animal was based on owner records.
A coverglass flotation method using
to concentrate the oocysts (7). Five
grams of fecal material, from sam-
ples containing oocysts, were mixed
in 2.5 % potassium dichromate solu-
tion and incubated at 25°C for one
week. The sporulated oocysts were
subsequently quantified using the
Wisconsin procedure (8). A strict
morphological criterion was used to
identify the species of Eimeria
present (9, 10, 11, 12, 13).
For analysis, animals were
assigned to one of two age classes
(less than one year of age, n = 65;
or greater than one year of age,
n = 66). The G-test of independ-
ence was used to test for difference
of intensity of infection by age class
and month of occurrence.
The ten species of Eimeria found,
and the prevalence and intensity
for each are listed in Table I. Of
the 131 samples examined, 64.2%
contained one or more species of
Eimeria and 45.1 % contained two
or more species (Table II). Eimeria
canadensis (31.3%) and E. bovis
(31.3%) were the most prevalent
species recovered. Eimeria zuernii
(20.6%) and E. auburnensis
(20.6%) were the second most fre-
quently found. All other species
were recovered from less than 11 70
of the fecal samples (Table I).
The average number of oocysts
found in each sample was usually
less than 25 opg. Two samples con-
tained large numbers of E. zuernii
oocysts (109,449 and 106,421 opg).
The coccidia did not show a sig-
nificant difference in prevalence or
intensity of infection when com-
pared with month of occurrence
(P > 0.05). Eimeria bovis was found
Clinical coccidiosis occurred
only when E. zuernii was
found in conjunction with
E. bovis.
most often in cattle less than one
year of age (G 4.58; P<0.05).
=
The opg levelsfor E. canadensis
were higher in cattle less than one
year of age than in older animals
(V = 70.50; P.<0.005).
Eimeria bovis was the most pre-
valent species found in the present
survey and it is one of the most
common Eimeria species found in
cattle in the United States (14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19). In the present sur-
vey the greatest number of oocysts
of E. bovis found in a fecal sample
was 3784 opg; this was mildly diarr-
heal with no blood or mucus pres-
ent. This is not an unusually high
oocyst output of E. bovis compared
with that produced in experimental
infections. Calves inoculated with
100,000 oocysts may excrete one
million opg or more during the peak
days of oocyst discharge (20, 21).
Eimeria bovis and E. zuernii are
usually isolated when clinical cases
of bovine coccidiosis (severe diarr-
hea, dysentery, or tenesmus) occur
(5, 22). In the present study,
E. zuernii was the predominant
coccidian found in two clinical cases
Can Vet
Can Vet JJ Volume
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28, No.
No. 33 March 1987~~~~~~~
March 1987
 of coccidiosis. Eimeria zuernii
comprised more than 99%7o of the
oocysts found in feces from these
animals. The colonic content from
both cattle was loose and watery,
each with more than 100,000
E. zuernii opg.
In the present study, clinical
coccidiosis occurred only when
E. zuernii was found in conjunction
with E. bovis. Fecal samples from
cases with no clinical signs of cocci-
diosis contained E. bovis, or one of
the other Eimeria spp. in equal or
greater numbers than E. zuernii. In
only three cases was E. zuernii
found as the only Eimeria sp.
present. None of these had signs of
coccidiosis. Similarly, E. bovis was
found alone in six cases, and none
had signs of coccidiosis.
Niilo (5) concluded that bovine
coccidiosis occurred more fre-
quently in cattle of Alberta than
in any other province in Canada.
Slocombe (4) showed that 3.607o of
the cattle in Ontario on pasture, and
5.207o of the cattle off pasture, con-
tained coccidia. Niilo (5) reported
that species, other than E. zuernii,
present in cattle of Alberta, in order
of frequency, were E. bovis,
E. ellipsoidalis, and E. canadensis.
No prevalence rates were provided.
If Slocombe's (4) survey from
Ontario is representative of the
prevalence rates of coccidia in cat-
tle of Canada, the high prevalence
rates of 31.87o for E. bovis, and
20.6Wo for E. zuernii in our survey
would support Niilo's conclusion.
The present survey showed that at
least nine species of coccidia occur
in cattle of Alberta. Four of these
(E. bovis, E. canadensis, E. ellip-
soidalis, and E. zuernii) have been
reported previously in Alberta (5).
We are grateful to Mr. Dave
Moraiko and Mrs. Carla Wright for
their assistance during this survey.
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. 1.....378
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s:ni14/31 07 2 61
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