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BackgroundChicken is fast becoming the world’s most consumed meat. As a consequence poultry health is more important now than ever before, with pathogens of chickens recognised as serious threats to food security. One such threat are Eimeria species parasites, protozoa which can cause the disease coccidiosis. Eimeria can compromise economic poultry production and chicken welfare, and have serious consequences for poor livestock keepers. Seven Eimeria species that infect chickens are recognised with a global enzootic distribution. More recently three cryptic Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUx, y and z) have been described in populations of Eimeria recovered from chickens in Australia. Two of the three OTUs have also been detected in sub-Saharan Africa, but their occurrence, pathology and the risk they pose is largely unknown.ResultsNigeria has witnessed a dramatic expansion in poultry production and is now the largest poultry producer in Africa. Here, faecal samples collected from nine of 12 commercial chicken farms sampled in Kaduna state, Nigeria, were found to contain eimerian oocysts. After amplification by in vivo propagation all three cryptic OTU genotypes were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), including OTUy for the first time outside of Australia. Comparison with a widely used, established Eimeria species-specific PCR assay revealed failure to detect the OTU genotypes.ConclusionsAll three of the Eimeria OTU genotypes appear to be common in north-western Nigeria. The failure of a leading species-specific molecular assay to detect these genotypes indicates a risk of false negative Eimeria diagnosis when using molecular tools and suggests that the spatial occurrence of each OTU may be far wider than has been recognised. The risk posed by these novel genotypes is unknown, but it is clear that a better understanding of Eimeria occurrence is required together with the validation of effective diagnostics.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0713-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Sarcocystis infection is a parasitic zoonosis, which may cause acute and fatal clinical diseases in susceptible cattle. When raw or undercooked infected beef is consumed by man, it could result in intestinal sarcocystosis. Aim: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of Sarcocystis infection in slaughtered cattle in Zaria, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in which oesophagus and diaphragm samples were collected from 200 slaughtered cattle and analysed by pepsin-hydrochloric acid digestion and stained with Giemsa. Histological sections of tissues were prepared and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Results: Eighty-five (42.5 %) were positive for Sarcocystis species. Sarcocysts ranged from 228.8 to 1215 μm in length and 46.93 to 114.40 μm in width. Sarcocysts were all microscopic in nature and 99.0 % had thin cyst wall (< 1 μm), while 4 % had thick cyst wall (3.61 to 7.22 μm). Sarcocystis cruzi and S. hominis were the identified species. Age, sex and breed were not determinants of the infection (p > 0.05). Seventy-five (88.2 %) and 56 (65.9 %) cattle had sarcocysts in the oesophagus and diaphragm respectively. There was a significant difference in the distribution of sarcocysts between the oesophagus and diaphragm (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study has established in the study area the prevalence of Sarcocystis infection in cattle using tissue digestion method and histology. The identified species were of veterinary and public health importance. [Vet World 2013; 6(6.000): 346-349