FOLIA PARASITOLOGICA 56[3]: 153–166, 2009 © Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre ASCR
ISSN 0015-5683 (print), ISSN 1803-6465 (online) http://www.paru.cas.cz/folia/
R eview aRticle
Coccidia of rabbit: a review
Michal Pakandl
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České
Budějovice, Czech Republic
Abstract: This article summarises the current knowledge of the rabbit coccidia and the disease they cause. Various aspects, such as
life cycles, localisation in the host, pathology and pathogenicity, immunity and control, are discussed.
Key words: Apicomplexa, rabbit coccidia, review article, life cycles, pathology, immunity, coccidiosis control
1. IntroductIon, hIstory and survey of specIes Eimeria coecicola Cheissin, 1947
This paper reviews the current knowledge of rabbit E. exigua Yakimoff, 1934
coccidia. Although rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) can be E. flavescens Marotel et Guilhon, 1941
either host or intermediate host of other coccidia belong- E. intestinalis Cheissin, 1948
ing to the genera Cryptosporidium, Besnoitia, Sarcocystis E. irresidua Kessel et Jankiewicz, 1931
and Toxoplasma, the article deals only with monoxenous E. magna Pérard, 1925
coccidia of the genus Eimeria Schneider, 1875. E. media Kessel, 1929
The chicken coccidia are the mean model in the re- E. perforans (Leuckart, 1879) Sluiter et Swellengrebel, 1912
search of these parasites because of economical impor- E. piriformis Kotlán et Pospesch, 1934
tance of the host. Similarly, due to the availability of the E. vejdovskyi Pakandl, 1988
host, including inbred and genetically modified strains,
important work has been performed on mouse models. Eimeria stiedai (Lindemann, 1865) Kisskalt et Hartmann,
In contrast, little attention is currently paid to rabbit coc- 1907 is the only liver coccidium.
cidia, although these species have also been the subject of
many studies and they are of historical importance. Ac- Carvalho (1942) described Eimeria neoleporis in cot-
cording to Levine (1973), Leeuwenhoek observed oocysts tontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) and reported that
in rabbit liver as early as 1674 and hence Eimeria stiedai, this species is easily transferred to tame rabbits (Oryc-
a liver coccidium of rabbits, belongs to the first known tolagus cuniculus). The oocysts of this species are simi-
protozoans. However, coccidia were first studied and de- lar to those of E. coecicola and for this reason Pellérdy
scribed during the 19th century and Eimeria stiedai was (1974) considered the name E. coecicola to be a synonym
the most important subject of such investigations. In 1879 of E. neoleporis. However, Cheissin (1968) demonstrated
Leuckart (cited according to Levine 1973) distinguished the validity of E. coecicola using data concerning oocyst
liver and intestinal coccidia of rabbits and named them morphology as well as endogenous stages. Eimeria neole-
Coccidium oviforme (now Eimeria stiedai) and Coccid- poris very probably does not spontaneously occur in tame
ium perforans. During the 20th century, many outstand- rabbits. Some other species were also described (cited
ing coccidiologists, such as Yakimoff, Pellérdy, Cheissin, according to Pellérdy 1974): E. nagpurensis Gill et Ray,
Rose, Scholtyseck, Coudert, Norton, Gregory, and others 1960, E. oryctolagi Ray et Banik, 1965, and E. matsuba-
studied rabbit coccidia at some period of their scientific yashi Tsunoda, 1952. However, it was shown later that
life. these species are identical with species already described.
The species name E. perforans introduced by Leuck- Taken together, eleven species of rabbit coccidia listed
art is used till today, but ten other species have been suc- above seem valid and this is in agreement with the opin-
cessively distinguished (Coudert et al. 1995, Eckert et al. ion of Coudert et al. (1995), who also prepared a reliable
1995): key for species identification (Eckert et al. 1995).
Address for correspondence: M. Pakandl, Dlouhá 18, 370 11 České Budějovice, Czech Republic. E-mail: michal.pakandl@seznam.cz
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Table 1. Localisation of rabbit intestinal coccidia in the host and number of their asexual generations.
Species Intestinal segment Localisation in the mucosa No. asexual Reference
(except E. stiedai) (except E. stiedai) generations
E. coecicola appendix, sacculus rotundus, Peyer’s patches 1st AG in GALT; 2nd–4th AG 4 Pakandl et al. 1993, 1996a
and gamogony in epithelium
of domes and mushrooms
E. exigua duodenum–ileum; successively moves from tops of the villi 4 Jelínková et al. 2008
proximal to distal parts of the small intestine
E. flavescens 1st AG small intestine, 2nd–5th AG caecum 1st AG in crypts; 2nd–4th 5 Norton et al. 1979, Gre-
AG in superficial epithelium; gory and Catchpole 1986,
5th AG and gamonts in crypts Pakandl