Avian coccidiosis continues to be one of the costliest diseases of commercial poultry. Understanding the epidemiology of
Eimeria
species in poultry flocks and the resistance profile to common anticoccidials is important to design effective disease prevention and control strategies. This study examined litter samples to estimate the prevalence and distribution of
Eimeria
species among broiler farms in 4 geographic regions of Colombia. A total of 245 litter samples were collected from 194 broiler farms across representative regions of poultry production between March and August 2019. The litter samples were processed for oocysts enumeration and speciation after sporulation. End-point polymerase chain reaction
(PCR)
analysis was conducted to confirm the presence of
Eimeria
species. Anticoccidial sensitivity was determined with 160 Ross AP males in 5 treatment groups: noninfected, nonmedicated control
(NNC
), infected, nonmedicated control
(INC),
infected salinomycin treated
(SAL, dose: 66 ppm)
, infected diclazuril treated
(DIC, dose: 1 ppm),
and infected methylbenzocuate-Clopidol treated
(MET.CLO, dose: 100 ppm),
All birds were orally inoculated with 1 × 10
6
sporulated oocysts using a 1 mL syringe, except for the NNC- group who received 1ml of water
.
Eimeria
spp. were found in 236 (96.3%) out of 245 individual houses, representing 180 (92.8%) out of 194 farms.
Eimeria acervulina
was the most prevalent species (35.0%) followed by
Eimeria tenella
(30.9%),
Eimeria maxima
(20.4%), and other
Eimeria spp.
(13.6%). However, mixed species infections were common, with the most prevalent combination being mixtures of
E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. tenella,
and other species in 31.4% of the
Eimeria
-positive samples. PCR analysis identified
E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. tenella, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria mitis,
and
Eimeria praecox
with variable prevalence across farms and regions. Anticoccidial sensitivity testing of strains of
Eimeria
isolated from 1 region, no treatment difference (
P
> 0.05) was observed in final weight (BW), weight gain (BWG) or feed conversion (FCR). For the global resistance index (
GI
) classified SAL and MET.CLO as good efficacy (85.79 and 85.49, respectively) and DIC as limited efficacy (74.52%). These results demonstrate the ubiquitous nature of
Eimeria
spp. and identifies the current state of sensitivity to commonly used anticoccidials in a region of poultry importance for Colombia.