Concurrent Caecal Coccidiosis and Bacteriosis in Slaughter Chickens in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

¹GULANI, I.A., ²MOHAMMED, A., ¹LAWAL, J.R., ²BIU, A.A., ¹YAKAKA, W. ¹ZANGO, M.K., AND MUSTAPHA, F.B.

¹Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria

²Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria

E-mail:  biuvet@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT The prevalence of concurrent coccidial and bacterial infections from caecal contents of slaughtered chickens was investigated in this study using saturated salt floatation technique and culture media standard bacteriological procedures. Out of the 450 caecal contents examined 63 (14%) had coccidian oocyts with severity scores of 1+ having 11 (17.5%), 2+ with 21 (33.3%), 3+ with 23 (36.5%) and 4+ with 8 (12.7%). Bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli with a prevalence of 6 (9.5%), Salmonella species mixed with E. coli 14 (22.2%), Enterobacter species mixed with E. coli 7 (11.1%), Klebsiella species mixed with E. coli 6 (9.52%), Staphylococcus aureus mixed with E. coli 8 (12.7%), Corynebacterium species mixed with E. coli 6 (9.5%) and Staphylococcus species mixed with E. coli 7 (11.1%). Antibiogram of the bacterial isolates showed that they were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, ofloxacin and resistant to erythromycin, nitrofurantoin and floxapen