Polish Journal of Veterinary Sciences Vol. 17, No.

3 (2014), 465–468

DOI 10.2478/pjvs-2014-0067

Original article

Toltrazuril (Baycox®) treatment against

coccidiosis caused by Eimeria sp. in Japanese
quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

R. Sokół1, M. Gesek2, M. Raś-Noryńska1, M. Michalczyk1

1
Department of Parasitology and Invasive Diseases,
2
Department of Pathological Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 13, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Abstract

Coccidiosis is the most predominant parasitic disease affecting Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix
japonica) in commercial farms. Coccidiosis as a subclinical infection is difficult to diagnose without
parasitological examinations. Oocysts of two Eimeria species, E. bateri and E. tsunodai, were deter-
mined in the analysed quail flock. Infected birds were administered Baycox 2.5% at the dose of: group
I – 7 mg toltrazuril/kg BW per day provided in drinking water (1.5 ml/0.5 l H2O) that was available 24
h for 2 days, group II – 14 mg/kg BW (3 ml/0.5 l H2O), and group III – 24.5 mg/kg BW (5 ml/0.5
l H2O); in groups II and III, the solutions were available 8 h/24 h for 2 days. After the first day of the
treatment, the number of excreted oocysts (OPG – oocysts per gram) increased, a steady decrease in
oocyst counts began on the second day of Baycox administration and lasted until a three-day period
when no oocyst were determined in faecal samples. Regardless of the dose applied, toltrazuril
(Baycox) completely eliminated E. bateri coccidia and led to a highly significant reduction in the
number of E. tsunodai oocysts. The results suggest that the effectiveness of toltrazuril varies depend-
ing on coccidia species and developmental stages of the parasite. From the clinical point of view, the
treatment applied significantly reduces the number of coccidia oocysts in commercial flocks of Ja-
panese quails.

Key words: coccidiosis, toltrazuril, Japanese quails, control, Baycox

Introduction Coccidiosis is the most prevalent parasitic disease in

quails. During propagation of an intracellular phase,
The Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) is coccidia damage enterocytes, causing inflammatory
a poultry species raised for eggs and meat in both bowel disease of varying severity, and thus impair the
home and commercial farms. It is characterised by digestion and absorption of nutrients. It affects the
fast body weight gains and a short rearing period until health and productivity of birds, and increases their
egg production (6-7 weeks). susceptibility to secondary infections (Gesek et al.

Correspondence to: R. Sokół, e-mail: rajmund.sokol@uwm.edu.pl

466 R. Sokół et al.

2014). The following coccidia species have been of the intestinal tissue were subjected to his-
identified and described in Japanese quails: E. uzura, topathological analysis that revealed the presence of
E. bateri and E. taldykurganica in the small intestine different developmental stages of the coccidia.
and E. tsunodai in the caecum (Tsunoda and Muraki
1971, Tsutsumi 1972, Teixeira et al. 2004, Bashtar et
al. 2010, Gesek et al. 2014). In poultry, coccidiosis is Evaluation of the effectiveness
treated with various chemical compounds, including of Baycox treatment
amprolium, clopidol, diclazuril, decoquinate,
lasalocid, monensin, narsin/nacarbazin, robenidine, The effectiveness of Baycox treatment was evalu-
roxarsone, sulfadimethoxine/ormetropin, salinomycin, ated in 80 randomly selected quails aged 12 weeks
semduramicin and zoalene (Tsutsumi and Tsunoda that were kept in an animal research laboratory under
1972, Gerhold et al. 2011). conditions identical to those at the farm. The birds
In the breeding of chickens, turkeys and pigeons were divided into four groups of 20 individuals per
one of the most commonly used anticoccidal drug is cage: control group (C) without treatment, group
Baycox. This medicine is not dedicated to quails, and I – administered 7 mg toltrazuril/kg BW per day in
its use in this species is considered experimental. Be- drinking water (1.5 ml/0.5 l H2O) that was available 24
cause of its high efficacy against different species of h for 2 days, group II – administered 14 mg/kg BW (3
coccidia in other species of birds, it is important to ml/0.5 l H2O), and group III – 24.5 mg/kg BW (5
establish an effective and safe dose of this drug for ml/0.5 l H2O); in groups II and III, fresh solutions
quail. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effec- were available 8 h/24 h for 2 days.
tiveness of Baycox 2.5% (active ingredient: toltrazuril) Faeces samples were collected daily from cages
(TOL), applied at different doses, in coccidiosis treat- over a period of 14 days. The collected material was
ment in Japanese quails reared in a commercial farm. stirred with a rod, samples of 10 g were weighed, and
four specimens of 1 g each were collected randomly
and analysed by Fülleborn’s flotation method. The
Materials and Methods specimens were mixed with Darling’s solution to ob-
tain a volume of 10 ml, and they were centrifuged at
Animals 2500 rpm for 5 min.; 10 μl of the supernatant was
placed on a slide and analysed under a light micro-
The quails were obtained from a commercial quail scope at 400x magnification. The average number of
flock of 10,000 birds raised for eggs. The birds were oocysts per g of faeces (OPG) was determined.
kept on litter until 21 days of age, after which they Oocysts were observed and measured under
were moved to cages. They were fed a complete bal- a light microscope connected to a digital camera and
anced diet containing 27% total protein (TP) and a computer with Olympus image analysis software.
3 000 kcal/kg metabolisable energy (ME) until the age The oocysts were identified based on their shape and
of 21 days, 24% TP and 2900 kcal/kg ME between 21 size. The percentage shares of the identified coccidia
and 42 days, and 20% TP and 2800 kcal/kg ME from species, sporulated oocysts (S), unsporulated oocysts
42 days of age. There was no vaccination program in (US) and damaged oocysts (D) were determined in
the flock. five fields of view.
The results were analysed by Newman-Keuls test
(p ≤ 0.05) and processed in the Statistica v. 9 for Win-
Parasitological examination dows application.

Faeces samples collected from birds aged 80 days

were analysed by the flotation method with the use of Results
Darling’s solution (50% saturated sodium chloride
+ 50% glycerol). The test revealed the presence of Before the administration of TOL, the average
two coccidia species: more abundant, oval-shaped E. OPG in all experimental groups was determined at 7.4
tsunodai measuring 18.34 x 14.70 μm, and less abun- x 106 (detailed results are given in Table 1). Two types
dant, subspherical E. bateri measuring 20.32 x 18.1 of oocysts were identified based on microscopic obser-
μm. Analyses of tissue samples from the examined vations: subspherical E. bateri and oval E. tsunodai,
quails revealed inflammatory changes in the caecum which accounted for 20% and 80% of all oocysts, re-
(dilated intestinal lumen, congested mucosa, blood in spectively. The examined samples contained 20%
the intestinal contents) that scored 2 points on the sporulated oocysts (S), 65-75% unsporulated oocysts
scale proposed by Johnson and Reid (1970). Samples (US) and 5-15% damaged oocysts (D). The first
Toltrazuril (Baycox®) treatment against coccidiosis caused... 467

Table 1. Average number of oocysts per g of faeces (OPG) (x 106) and percent content of sporulated oocysts (S), unsporulated
oocysts (US) and damaged oocysts (D) subject to toltrazuril dose and experimental period.

Group / toltrazuril dose (ml/l)

Experimental I/1.5 II/3 III/5 C/-
period / day % oocysts % oocysts % oocysts % oocysts
Average Average Average Average
OPG x106 S US D OPG x106 S US D OPG x106 S US D OPG x106 S US D
Before
treatment 0 7.4(100%) 20 75 5 4.3(100%) 20 70 10 9.2(100%) 20 75 5 8.8(100%) 20 65 15
1 8.8 20 60 20 4.4 20 60 20 1.6 20 75 5 9.1 20 70 10
2 7.2 20 55 25 9.8 20 60 20 5.2 25 65 10 7.2 25 70 5
3 1.2* – 40 60 2.4* – – 100 2* 5 80 15 7.2 25 65 10
4 0.4 – 50 50 0.2 – – 100 0.6 – – 100 7.6 20 70 10
5 0.2 – – 100 – – – – – – – – 9 25 70 5
After treatment 6 – – – – – – – – – – – – 9.4 25 65 10
7 – – – – – – – – – – – – 9.2 20 70 10
8 – – – – 0.2 – – 100 0.4 – – 100 12 25 70 5
9 0.4 – – 100 0.8 – – 100 2.2 – – 100 10.6 25 70 5
10 0.2 – – 100 0.8 – – 100 1.2 – – 100 12.2 20 65 15
11 0.2 – – 100 0.4 – – 100 0.8 – 50 50 13.2 20 60 20
12 0.4 – 40 60 0.6 – – 100 1.2 – 60 40 10.4 25 70 5
13 0.2 – 100 – 0.6 – – 100 1.4 – 100 – 8.2 25 65 10
14 0.2 – 100 – 0.8 – 90 10 2.0 – 95 5 8.2 20 60 20

S – sporulated, US – unsporulated, D – damaged; (p ≤ 0.05)

analysis of faecal samples after the administration of Unsporulated oocysts reappeared on day 11 in
TOL revealed an increase in OPG values in the con- group III (US – 50%), on day 12 in group I (US
trol and experimental groups regardless of the dose – 40%) and on day 14 – in group II (US – 90%). On
applied. During that test, the presence of subspherical the last day of the experiment, faeces samples from
oocysts (E. bateri) was not confirmed in faeces the experimental group birds contained 90-100% US
samples collected from the experimental group birds, oocysts, and samples from the control group quails
which remained free of the above parasite until the – 60% US oocysts. Beginning on day 8 in groups II
end of the experiment. On the second day of the ex- and III and on day 9 in group I, a significant drop in
periment, oocyst counts increased only in group II OPG values was observed relative to the control (8.2
(significant increase). On day 3, the number of oocysts – 13.2 x 106), and OPG was determined at 0.2 – 0.4
decreased in all experimental groups, and the ob- x 106 in group I, 0.2 – 0.8 x 106 in group II and 0.4 – 2.2
served drop was significant in groups II and III. In the x 106 in group III.
control group, OPG ranged from 7.2 to 13.2 x 106
throughout the experiment, and the percent composi-
tion of different oocyst groups (S – 20-25%, US Discussion
– 60-75%, D – 5-20%) and coccidia species (E. bateri
– 20% and E. tsunodai – 80%) was maintained. Birds, among them quails, kept on litter come into
Complete oocyst damage (100%) was observed in contact with faeces and are susceptible to infections
group II on day 3, in group III on day 4 and in group caused by oocysts, including coccidia. Various devel-
I on day 5. No oocysts were found in the experimental opmental stages of coccidia are observed in the intes-
groups in the course of three successive days. Only tines of quails that are naturally infected with Eimeria
oval oocysts (E. tsunodai) reappeared in group II and sp. In this experiment, coccidiosis was a subclinical
III birds on day 8 and in group I on day 9, and they disease. Unlike in other studies (Mazurkiewicz et al.
were damaged in all cases. Complete oocyst damage 1967), an apparent deterioration in bird health and
was observed in groups I and III over a period of diarrhoea were not reported. Feed intake was similar
three days and in group II over a period of six days. in all groups, and it was within the norm established
468 R. Sokół et al.

for quails at the onset of the laying season. Coccidiosis Further work is required to evaluate the effectiveness
was diagnosed by routine/preventive parasitological of TOL in the treatment of coccidiosis caused by dif-
examinations of faeces samples. Oocyst counts in the ferent coccidia species, in particular in quails where
control group birds indicate that infected birds com- the disease has no recognizable clinical symptoms.
pensate for the presence and harmful effects of coc-
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