Epidemiology and identification of Eimeria species affecting poultry in East Gojjam Zone, North West Ethiopia.

Background: Despite the expansion of modernized poultry farming in Ethiopia, the presence of high prevalence of Eimeria species is the bottleneck in the sector causing high morbidity and mortality rate in poultry.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and identify Eimeria species and investigate the major risk factors.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2019 to April 2020 in East Gojjam Zone, North West Ethiopia. A total of 384 chickens were used. Both floatation and McMaster coprological techniques were employed. Univariate and multinomial logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio for the associated risk factors. Analysis of variance was used to analyse differences in Eimeria oocyst counts among the groups.

Results: Overall prevalence of Eimeria species in poultry from the study area was 26.5%. Age (OR = 0.25, p = 0.001), management system (OR = 12.44, p = 0.001) and production system (OR = 0.37, p = 0.001) were found significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the risk of Eimeria species in poultry. The mean Eimeria oocyst count was significantly different by age and management system (F = 6.526, p = 0.002), (F = 5.369, p = 0.005), respectively. The mean Eimeria oocyst count was significantly greater in 6-12 weeks (p = 0.004) and <6 weeks of age (p = 0.025). A total of 6 Eimeria species were identified. Eimeria tenella (46.07%), Eimeria necatrix (24.5%) and Eimeria acervulina (8.82%) were the most common Eimeria species encountered.

Conclusion: The prevalence of Eimeria species was higher in poultry in North West Ethiopia. Therefore, tailor-made intervention is required to mitigate risk factors and reduce the prevalence of Eimeria species in poultry from the study area.