Microscopic and molecular detection of Eimeria maxima and Eimeria praecox naturally infected in free-range village chickens of Myanmar.

PURPOSE

In Myanmar, village chicken production is an important source of both income and food for rural households. The present study is aimed to conduct microscopic detection and molecular identification of Eimeria species in free-range village chickens in Myanmar.

METHODS

Faecal samples were taken from a total of 122 apparently healthy village chickens from three rural regions in Myanmar. The faecal samples were subjected to flotation method using a saturated sugar solution. Oocysts of Eimeria sp. were isolated by saturated sugar solution onto coverslips and identified to species at 400 × by light microscopy. Molecular identification was conducted for Eimeria oocysts collected from faecal samples using 18S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS-1).

RESULTS

Eimeria oocysts were found in 41 samples (33.6%) by flotation method. Oocysts morphologically identified as E. maxima and E. praecox, were detected in 33 (27.0%) and 15 (12.3%) samples, respectively. Mixed infection of these two species was found in 7 (5.7%). Partial sequences of the 18S rRNA gene amplified from morphologically identified oocysts of E. maxima and E. praecox, revealed 99.9% and 100%, identities with the sequences of each species deposited in GenBank, respectively. Species-specific PCR of the ITS-1 region was also confirmed the presence of these two Eimeria species.

CONCLUSION

The results demonstrated the presence of E. maxima and E. praecox in free-range village chickens in Myanmar.