Efficacy of volatile oils (curzerene, furanoeudesma-1, 3-diene and lindestrene) on avian coccidiosis under laboratory conditions.

The coccidicidal efficacy of volatile oils (curzerene, furanoeudesma-1, 3-diene and lindestrene) against unsporulated and sporulated chicken Eimeria species oocysts was tested in three concentrations: 1, 2 & 3 microg/ml. Marked reduction in the number of living oocysts was recorded in exposed groups. The concentration of 3 microg/ml volatile oils induced the highest destructive effect. 58.1% of viable unsporulated oocysts were destroyed. A mean number of 153,800 oocysts was the difference between the total number of the produced oocysts per gram faeces in the group infected with exposed oocysts and that of the group infected with non exposed oocysts being less in the exposed group with more reduction in the vitality of shedding oocysts in the former group. At the meantime, the postmortem and histopathological microscopical examination of the intestine and caecum of the tested group revealed a reduction in the intestinal lesions in the group infected with the exposed oocysts.