SUMMARY

Coccidiosis remains a major disease and economic challenge for the global poultry industry. Coccidiosis in chickens is caused by seven Eimeria species that target specific regions of the gastrointestinal tract and cause malabsorptive or haemorrhagic disease. These Eimeria species infect segment-specific epithelial cells and thus need to navigate the host’s indigenous microbiome and intestinal defences to establish an infection and cause disease. Good husbandry practices, prophylactic use of anticoccidial drugs and/or live parasite vaccination have been the primary control measures employed but there are challenges with vaccination and growing constraints on anticoccidial drug use. This review, therefore, considers available information on the key steps of the infection process, notable microbiome- or host-related changes occurring, and the (potential) influence of dietary ‘alternatives’ to anticoccidial drugs. There is good available evidence to indicate that some phytogenics, prebiotics, probiotics, betaine, n-3 fatty acids, as well as carbohydrase enzymes and anti-IL-10 antibodies, can (beneficially) modulate at least some of these features in coccidiosis-specific challenge studies. As a minimum, these anticoccidial drug ‘alternatives’ could support the establishment of a desirable host microbiome and optimum immune system development. It is important to better understand the potential of these ‘alternatives’ in commercial production and how they can complement, or reduce, the use of anticoccidial drugs.

概括

球虫病仍然是全球家禽业的主要疾病和经济挑战。鸡球虫病是由七个针对肠胃道特定区域的艾美球虫引起的，并引起吸收不良或出血性疾病。这些艾美莉亚物种感染特定于节段的上皮细胞，因此需要导航宿主的本地微生物组和肠道防御系统，以建立感染并引起疾病。良好的饲养管理，预防性使用抗球虫药和/或进行活寄生虫疫苗接种已成为主要的控制措施，但疫苗接种和抗球虫药使用的限制日益严峻。因此，本综述考虑了有关感染过程关键步骤，发生的显着微生物组或宿主相关变化以及饮食“替代品”对抗球虫药的（潜在）影响的可用信息。有充分的现有证据表明某些植物源性物质，益生元，益生菌，甜菜碱，n-3脂肪酸以及糖化酶和抗IL-10抗体，可以（有益地）调节球虫病特异性挑战研究中的至少某些特征。这些抗球虫药的“替代品”至少可以支持建立理想的宿主微生物组并优化免疫系统的发育。重要的是要更好地了解这些“替代品”在商业生产中的潜力以及它们如何补充或减少抗球虫药的使用。