Domestic rabbit enteropathies
... Coccidia of the genus Eimeria are common parasites in rabbits and one of the main causes of intestinal disorders on conventional rabbit farms [1,2]. Young animals in the post-weaning phase are particularly susceptible to coccidiosis, which may lead to high morbidity or even mortalities in rabbit production, accompanied by substantial economic losses, whereas adult animals are mostly asymptomatic carriers of the Eimeria spp. ...
... [3,4]. Coccidia are ubiquitous pathogens in all forms of rabbit husbandry, i.e., not only in intensive rabbit breeding, but also in backyard breeding, and are impossible to eliminate [1,5]. The way rabbits are kept has a decisive influence on the occurrence of coccidiosis. ...
... The pathogenicity of Eimeria differs markedly between the species [9,10]. Therefore, their identification plays an important role in coccidiosis management [1]. The Eimeria species diagnosed in this study can be classified as low (E. ...
For years, there has been an increasing interest in natural alternatives to the conventional coccidiostats applied as feed additives, which have been used for decades to prevent coccidiosis in poultry and fattening rabbits. This study aimed to compare the possible anticoccidial effects of oregano oil to the established substance diclazuril in growing rabbits. The control group (CG) received a non-supplemented basal compound feed, to which either diclazuril (1 mg/kg; DG) or oregano oil (75 mg/kg; OG) was added. In each of the three trials, subgroups of 50 rabbits each were assigned to one of the three experimental groups (CG, DG and OG). Natural Eimeria infection was monitored weekly by fecal oocyst counts and Eimeria species identification following sporulation. Additionally, the performance parameters were determined at the middle and the end of the trials, and the deceased rabbits were subjected to necropsy. Neither oocyst excretion nor the performance parameters differed significantly between the three experimental groups. Eimeria media, Eimeria magna, Eimeria perforans and Eimeria exigua were identified as the occurring species. The highest animal losses (16.0%) occurred in the OG, while the losses were 12.7% in the DG and 12.0% in the CG. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Overall, neither diclazuril nor oregano oil was superior to the non-supplemented feed. This underlines the importance of diagnostics, as this study’s results indicate that in the absence of the highly pathogenic Eimeria species, economic rabbit rearing and fattening is achievable without the use of coccidiostats.
... Eimeria spp. can negatively impact the digestive system function by destroying the intestinal epithelial cells and bile ducts, which may result in many digestive disorders such as bloat, diarrhea, and intoxication [3]. Coccidiosis in rabbits has two main common forms, namely intestinal and hepatic. ...
... This disease is known to cause severe clinical symptoms, such as depression, low weight gain, diarrhea, and mortality [6]. Young rabbits of 1-3 months old are more susceptible to coccidiosis, especially during their weaning stage [3]. The maximum excretion of Eimeria oocysts in growing rabbits appeared around the age of 50 days, then considerably declined by the age of 81 to 109 days [7]. ...
... Coccidia is highly resistant to the most commonly used disinfectants. This nature makes the total eradication of such protozoa from rabbit farms completely impossible [3]. Therefore, it is recommended to use coccidiostats in rabbit's diet or drinking water to alleviate the negative effects of coccidiosis [9]. ...
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the Ficus sycomorus extract on Eimeria intestinalis in experimentally infected rabbits. For this purpose, forty male 30-day-old rabbits (Blanc de Bouscat) were divided into four groups (n = 10 in each group). Rabbits kept in the first group served as negative control (non-treated-non-infected). Rabbits kept in the second, third, and fourth groups were challenged at 10 weeks old with 3 × 10⁴ E. intestinalis sporulated oocysts. The third and fourth groups were treated orally with diclazuril 10% (0.05 mg/kg body weight) and F. sycomorus (100 mg/Kg) for three consecutive days, respectively. The efficacy was assessed based on the growth performance parameters, clinical symptoms, oocyst shedding, histopathological findings, and hematological parameters for 16 days post challenge. The study revealed that rabbits treated with F. sycomorus methanolic extract and diclazuril showed mild clinical symptoms with a significant decrease in oocyst shedding compared with the positive control. Moreover, the diclazuril-treated group showed the highest leukocytic count and the lowest monocytes percentage compared with other groups. Furthermore, the lowest lymphocytes percentage was recorded in the control positive group. Histopathologically, moderate coccidia infestation in the intestinal mucosa and moderate hydropic degeneration of hepatocytes were observed in the diclazuril treated group compared with the negative control. However, mild coccidia infestation in the intestinal mucosa and slight coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes was found in the F. sycomorus treated group. In conclusion, F. sycomorus methanolic extract had promising effects on the live performance, oocyst count, and blood variables, while it possesses adverse consequences on the hepatic tissues. Further studies are required to optimize the dose and extraction method to mitigate its side effects.
... The main reasons for juvenile mortality in rabbits after weaning are digestive disorders accompanied by abdominal distension and diarrhoea. Eimeria sp. and an overgrow of bacterial agents, such as E. coli, are often observed in those cases (Licois, 2004;Rashwan & Marai, 2000). Due to coccidiosis the intestinal pH is increased, which allows the proliferation of E. coli, drawing some attention on the parasite for the control of digestive disturbances in rabbit weaners (Barthold, Griffey & Percy, 2016). ...
... Eimeria sp. was the most prominent pathogen, present in all examined rabbits during the study. This is consistent with the opinion of several authors, who point out the widespread occurrence of Eimeria sp. in rabbits (Licois, 2004;Okumu et al., 2014;Szkucik et al., 2014). Furthermore, the decline of oocyst excretion after the second week of the trial highlights the critical role of coccidia especially in the first weeks after weaning. ...
... This value was exceeded by 91.13% of the rabbits, that died during the trial and 90.32% of the rabbits, sacrificed at the end of the study. The high prevalence of the parasite measured in the examined rabbitry points to coccidial contamination of the stables in the current field trial, likely because of persistence of oocysts in the environment due to their high tenacity (Licois, 2004). ...
Gastrointestinal disorders due to Eimeria sp. and E. coli overgrowth cause high mortality in weaner rabbits and the interest in alternatives to coccidiostats is high. This study aimed to investigate the superiority of natural feed additives towards robenidine preserving gastrointestinal health in the field. Rabbits were divided into four groups, Control Group (CG) exclusively supplemented with robenidine, Sainfoin Group (SG) was supplemented with a combination of robenidine and sainfoin, and two additional groups were respectively supplemented with Herb-All COCC-X (garlic; conessi tree) (HG: Herbal Group) and by a combination of Herb-All COCC-X and Klinofeed (clinoptilolite) (MG: Mineral Group). Eimeria sp. (98,40%) and E. coli overgrowth (73.60%) could be confirmed as the main causes for losses. High mortality rates (SG: 30.00% - MG: 47.50%), also in the groups receiving robenidine (SG: 30.00%; CG: 45.00%), reinforced the importance of alternatives in the field. The natural additives of groups SG, HG and MG did not have a significant influence on the weight gains and the oocyst counts in the jejunum/ileum and caecum of slaughter rabbits at the end of the trial, compared to group CG. Significantly higher oocyst shedding in SG (p = 1.4E-03) and HG (p = 1.4E-05) during the trial may be explained by a higher surviving rate of diseased rabbits in those groups, fostered by beneficial effects of the additives, which should be investigated further.
... Έγινε πειραματική αναπαραγωγή της νόσου με ενο φθαλμισμό του περιεχομένου εντέρου από πάσχοντα ζώα διαφορετικών χωρών σε αξενικά κουνέλια και παρατηρήθηκαν ανάλογα συμπτώ ματα με εκείνα της φυσικής νόσου (Le Gall et al., 1998, Licois andCoudert, 2001). Μέχρι σήμερα, η ακριβής αι τιολογία της νόσου παραμένει άγνωστη και ο έλεγχος των συμπτωμάτων επιτυγχάνεται μερικώς με τη χρήση αντιμικροβιακών ουσιών , Boucher, 1997, Licois, 2004, Maertens et al., 2005. ...
... Από το 1998, το σύνδρομο εξαπλώθηκε και σε άλ λες περιοχές της Γαλλίας και μετέπειτα της Ευρώπης , Lebas, 1998, Pisoni, 2003, Licois, 2004, Grilli et al., 2006, Maertens et al., 2005, Nouaille, 2006, Rössel, 2006, χωρίς ωστόσο να υπάρχουν ενδείξεις ότι η εκδήλωση του νοσήματος σχετίζεται με τη γεωγραφική περιοχή στην Ευρώπη. Τελικά, στα μέσα του 1998, η θνησιμό τητα περιορίστηκε και η νόσος τέθηκε υπό μερικό έλεγ χο, υστέρα από τη λήψη δραστικών μέτρων υγιεινής και μετά από τη συχνή αποκομιδή της κόπρου σε συνδυα σμό με τη χρήση ορισμένων αντιβιοτικών (βακιτρακινης, τυλοζινης, θειαμουλινης) (Boisot et al., 2003, Bostvironnois andSaives, 2003). ...
... Είναι χαρακτηριστικός ο παφλασμός ή "βορβορυγμός", όπως αναφέρεται από ξένους ερευνητές (Coudert and Licois, 2004), που αισθάνεται ο εξετα σθείς όταν κρατήσει στα χέρια του ένα προσβεβλημέ νο ή νεκρό από ΕΕΚ κουνέλι και το μετακινήσει κά θετα προς τον επιμήκη άξονα του. Ο παφλασμός αυτός, λόγω της παρουσίας του υγροΰ περιεχομένου του στο μάχου, χαρακτηρίζεται ως παθογνωμονικό σύμπτωμα -εύρημα της Επιζωοτικής Εντεροπάθειας του Κουνε λιού (WRSA, Mexico, 2004, Coudert andLicois, 2004). ...
Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy (ERE) is an important syndrome that occurred in European rabbit farms the last ten years and is linked to massive deaths, mainly during the fattening period. ERE was first observed in France, in 1997, and was quickly spread in all rabbit-breeding European countries, e.g. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Great Britain and Greece. In Greece, ERE has been clinically identified since 2003 in several commercial rabbit farms, causing severe economic loss in country's rabbit farming sector. In other continents no ERE cases have been reported up to today. ERE is characterized by very high mortality, reaching up to 30-80%. The exact etiology of the syndrome is still unclarified, although in several cases, various known pathogens have been isolated, e.g. coccidia, E. coli, Clostridium spp., Enteroviruses, Rota, virus. Treatment is only symptomatic and is mainly based on the use of antibiotics. Prescribed antibiotics against ERE are thiamouline and tylozine. But, the antibiotic of choice is the water soluble bacitracin, which is exclusively permitted only for use in rabbit farms.
... 2011, 19: 177 This enteropathy is a digestive disease characterised by prostration, abdominal bloating, aqueous diarrhoea and distension of both stomach and small intestine with gaseous and watery contents, both impacted or liquid caecal contents and occasionally droppings with abundant mucus in 10% of the cases (Coudert et al., 1997; Licois et al., 2006; Dewrée et al., 2007). Although increased mortality rates mainly account for the economic losses caused by this disease, farm profitability is also affected by the impairment of growth performance and feed conversion (Licois, 2004Licois, , 2010). Indeed, ERE is responsible for sharp decreases in feed intake and anorexia (Boucher and Nouaille, 2002) so that surviving animals reach the slaughter age with lower body weight and lesser homogeneity (Licois, 2007; Romero et al., 2009a). ...
... However, it is worth noting that in almost all animals diarrhoeas were of weak intensity as informed by Boucher and Nouaille (2002). According to Licois (2004 Licois ( , 2010), diarrhoea is the most dominant clinical sign of ERE as it can be found in more than 95% of affected rabbits. Apart from diarrhoea, the most constant clinical signs were abdominal bloating and gurgling, which are not pathognomonic symptoms. ...
... In the study by Licois et al. (2005), daily weight gain of control rabbits was also sharply decreased when they were housed in the same room as the inoculated groups. Finally, Licois (2004) surmised that the growth depression and impaired feed conversion could lead to greater economic losses than mortality. ...
Abstract: Digestive diseases are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in growing rabbits. Clostridium perfringens is a widely occurring pathogenic bacterium in enteric diseases of domestic animals and its pathogenicity stems from the production of potent exotoxins. This work aimed to quantify the concentration of C. perfringens α-toxin in caecal samples of rabbits with digestive diseases and relate these concentrations to C. perfringens counts. Additionally, C. perfringens strains isolated from rabbits with clinical lesions of Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy (ERE) were toxinotyped. To conduct this work, a total of 711 rabbits weaned at 35 d were housed in pairs and fattened until the age of 63 d. No experimental infection was performed and no antibiotics were provided in the feed or drinking water. All rabbits displaying symptoms of digestive diseases were slaughtered and necropsied. At 46 d, 88 healthy rabbits were also slaughtered. Caecal contents were sampled from all slaughtered animals. Thirty-seven out of the 69 rabbits with digestive diseases (88.5% of sick animals) showed ERE-confirmed symptoms and lesions. Apart from diarrhoea, the most constant ERE signs were abdominal bloating and borborygmi. At necropsy, the anterior digestive tract was found filled with large amounts of gas and liquid. Twenty-seven rabbits had liquid caecal contents whereas caecal impaction only appeared in 10 rabbits. Live weight was lower by 49.2% (P<0.001) in diseased rabbits as compared with healthy rabbits of the same age. For C. perfringens counts lower than 6.0 log cfu/g, the α-toxin concentration remained below 2.6 μg/mg. However, for bacterial counts above 6.0 log cfu/g the concentration of α-toxin ranged from 0.12 to 60.9 μg/mg. Nevertheless, both caecal concentration of C. perfringens (7.65 vs. 3.09 log cfu/g, P<0.001) and that of its α-toxin (6.02 vs. 0.17 μg/mg, P<0.001) were higher in diseased rabbits than in healthy ones. C. perfringens toxinotype A was found in all ERE-affected rabbits. No other toxinotype was identified and no isolate contained the enterotoxin gene. In conclusion, C. perfringens α-toxin should not be considered a good indicator of the bacterium’s presence, as high counts of colonies are not always associated with high toxin concentrations.
... coccidiosis, in which several Eimeria species play a role (Vetési, 1990). In addition to Eimeria species, an oxyurid nematode, Passalurus ambiguus is a common parasite in the intestinal tract of rabbits (Licois, 2004;Peeters et al., 1981). Parasites in the digestive tract of rabbits can cause diarrhoea and, in severe cases, mortality and thus significant economic losses (Peeters et al., 1981;Licois, 2004;Sioutas et al., 2021). ...
... In addition to Eimeria species, an oxyurid nematode, Passalurus ambiguus is a common parasite in the intestinal tract of rabbits (Licois, 2004;Peeters et al., 1981). Parasites in the digestive tract of rabbits can cause diarrhoea and, in severe cases, mortality and thus significant economic losses (Peeters et al., 1981;Licois, 2004;Sioutas et al., 2021). ...
... Among the different pathogens that can be found in rabbits with enteric disease, viruses seem to have an important but not definitive role [37]. Bacteriological and coproparasitoscopic tests identified the presence of two potential pathogens in rabbits [38]: E. coli in three samples and Eimeria spp. in all the samples analyzed. However, rotavirus was identified in only six of them, suggesting that the role of rotavirus in rabbits with enteric disease is not determinant of the disease presentation. ...
... However, rotavirus was identified in only six of them, suggesting that the role of rotavirus in rabbits with enteric disease is not determinant of the disease presentation. The findings presented here reinforce the hypothesis that infectious enteritis in rabbits is of multifactorial origin, with different pathogens acting synergistically to induce gastroenteritis [5,23,38,39]. ...
Rotavirus species A (RVA) is a major cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in young humans and diverse animal species. The study of the genetic characteristics of RVAs that infect rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (lapine strain [LRV]) has been limited, and, to date, the most common and epidemiologically important combinations of G/P genotypes in rabbits have been reported to be G3 P[14] and G3 P[22]. In this study, a rotavirus species A detected from an outbreak of enteritis in a Mexican commercial rabbitry was genotypically characterized. Based on sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the VP7 and VP4 genes, the strain identified in this study (C-3/15) demonstrated a G3 P[8] genotype of rotavirus, which had not previously been reported in rabbits. Moreover, both genes were closely related to human, not lapine, rotaviruses. The G3 genotype has been reported in a wide variety of hosts, including humans and rabbits, whereas the P[8] genotype has only been reported in humans. Because this combination of genotypes has never been identified in rabbits, it is proposed that the finding presented here is possibly the result of an interspecies transmission event. This is the first work to study the molecular characteristics of rotaviruses in rabbits in Mexico, as well as the identification of human G3 and P[8] genotypes in a rabbit with enteric disease.
... In rabbit farming, digestive disorders around weaning occur frequently, and their incidence is reduced by supplying sufficient dietary fibres and particularly lignins (Gidenne et al., 2020). Moreover, coccidiosis is one of the main constraints impairing the health status and performance of growing rabbit (Licois, 2004;Marlier et al., 2003). Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is a legume characterised by high fibre and lignin contents that could help reduce the incidence of digestive disorders. ...
... On the contrary, growing rabbits' oocyst faecal concentration was high (4500 OPG) throughout the trial, on the threshold (4000-5000 OPG) for applying a coccidia prophylaxis (Coudert et al., 2000). Some signs of the disease were visible, such as diarrhoea, although weight losses were not observed (Licois, 2004;Pakandl, 2009). It is likely that higher tannin intake is needed to detect an anticoccidial effect in growing rabbits. ...
The effects of a high dietary (26%) incorporation of dehydrated sainfoin (DS) (Perly cultivar) on the performance and health of reproductive does and growing rabbits were analysed in a sub-optimal professional breeding environment (presenting previous coccidiosis), and over two non-consecutive reproductive cycles (2 replicates). Performance and health of does and growing rabbits were compared for 2 groups of 194 does and associated litters, when fed isonutritive feeds containing either 0 or 26% DS (DS0 and DS26 groups). Dietary DS incorporation had no effect on doe live weight, fertility rate, mortality, culling rate and doe coccidia excretion levels (P>0.05). In replicate 1, kit growth before weaning was similar among the two groups, but was 12% lower for the DS26 group in the 2nd replicate (significant interaction). Similarly, a significant interaction was detected between the effect of the diet and the replicate for the mortality rate of kits before weaning, i.e. a higher mortality was detected for DS26 (3.3 vs. 1.8%) in replicate 1, while in replicate 2 it was lower (2.1 vs. 4.4%). After weaning, the post-weaning growth rate was improved by 4% (P=0.02) for the DS26 group, while the mortality rate decreased (7.1 vs. 4.5%, P<0.001). Coccidia excretions of growing rabbits were not affected by dietary sainfoin or by replicates. A high incorporation of DS (26%) should be recommended after weaning to improve the performance of growing rabbits without impact on reproducing does.
... The spread of chemoresistant coccidia (E. magna, E. media, and E. perforans) is now common (Licois, 2004). Drug-resistant parasites and the side effects of anti-coccidial drugs are counted as serious concerns for disease control in the future (Williams, 2006). ...
... Intestinal villi of the control +ve group appeared thickened and deformed with hypertrophied enterocytes containing numerous developmental stages of E. magna. Similar results were reported by Licois (2004) who demonstrated that the characteristic lesion of intestinal coccidiosis was only an enterocytes hypotrophy with intact cellular structure till the oocysts release then the cells burst and desquamate. These epithelial lesions could be attributed to liberated toxins or mechanical irritation provoked by the Eimeria (Abu- Akkada et al., 2010). ...
The present study was carried out to discover the protective and curative effects of alcoholic extracts of garlic (Allium sativum) and black seeds (Nigella sativa) in rabbits experimentally infected by Eimeria magna using in vivo, in vitro, and histopathological examination. Overall oocysts number per gram was significantly lower in the garlic treatment and pretreatment groups, compared to the control positive, sulfadimidine treatment, and black seed treatment groups. At the end of the experiment, the oocyst disappeared in garlic pretreatment, garlic treatment, and black seed pretreatment groups. While oocyst counts of control positive and sulfadimidine groups were increasing oocysts similarly at the end of the experiment with repeated cycles. In vitro sporulation inhibition of garlic extract showed significant efficacy on E. magna oocysts in comparison with black seed extract and high significant efficacy of sporulation inhibition, compared to sulfadimidine. While black seed extract showed high significant efficacy of sporulation inhibition, compared to sulfadimidine. Body weight gain increased in control negative, garlic pretreatment, and garlic treatment groups in comparison with other groups. The results showed that there were no significant differences in erythrocytes counts in all experimental groups while leukocyte counts showed a significant decrease in control positive and sulfadimidine groups, compared to the other groups. Similarly, the histopathological examinations on days 14 and 28 post-infection revealed pathological changes in intestinal villi of the control positive group that appeared thickened and deformed with hypertrophied enterocytes containing numerous developmental stages of E. magna. Both garlic and black seed extract had beneficial effects on improving the lesions grossly and microscopically. The results obtained in the present study proved that garlic pretreatment had a better effect on a prophylaxis and treatment for coccidiosis than garlic treatment and both had more beneficial effects, compared to black seed extract. Therefore, it is recommended to use garlic as a natural feed additive in rabbit feeding as a prophylaxis and treatment for coccidiosis to minimize the economic losses caused by this parasite.
... In this experiment, rabbits infected with E. coli developed symptoms such as anorexia, dullness, abdominal distension, and brown watery diarrhea on the 3rd day PI. Necropsy of dead rabbits revealed congestion in all visceral organs, pericarditis, enteritis, ballooning of the intestine with petechial hemorrhage on the wall, these results are similar to previous reports (Prescott, 1978;Licois, 2004;Ismail et al., 2017). The symptoms were prominent in infected untreated group (6), followed by probiotic treated-infected group 4, with the least evidence in the colistin sulfate-treated group 5. ...
Colibacillosis is a common infectious bacterial disease that can cause enteritis and high mortality in young rabbits, threatening the breeding industry. This work was performed to express some virulence-determining genes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolated E. coli and to study the efficacy of herbal oils and/ or probiotic on reducing E. coli infection in rabbits. Vaginal swabs and semen samples were collected from rabbits with reproductive problems (farm 1) while anal swabs were collected from rabbits with diarrhea (farm 2) in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt. Samples were subjected for bacterial identification, antibiogram-testing and molecular monitoring of iss and eaeA virulence genes. An experiment was performed in which 54 weaned California rabbits were divided into 6 equal groups, negative control group (G1), non-infected treated with probiotic and both fennel and moringa oils (G2), infected and treated with probiotic, fennel and moringa oils (G3), treated with probiotic only (G4), treated with colistin sulfate (G5) and positive control (G6). Infected groups (G3, G4, G5 and G6) were challenged orally with E. coli (1x10 7 CFU). The detection of E. coli was 15.3% (2/13) and 62.5% (10/16) in farm (1) and (2) respectively. The isolated E. coli was multidrug-resistant (MDR), carrying virulence genes iss and eaeA, with prevalence of 100% (12/12) and 50% (6 /12) respectively. Clinical symptoms were prominent in the experiment E. coli infected untreated group (6), with the least evidence in group (5). The E. coli colony counts were significantly higher in group (6) while rabbits in group (3) had significantly higher body weights compared to infected groups. Thus, it could be concluded that the use of two herbal oils and probiotics were able to reduce mortality rates, clinical signs, and the total E. coli count in experimentally infected rabbits.
... In this experiment, rabbits infected with E. coli developed symptoms such as anorexia, dullness, abdominal distension, and brown watery diarrhea on the 3rd day PI. Necropsy of dead rabbit revealed congestion in all visceral organs, pericarditis, enteritis, ballooning of the intestine with petechial hemorrhage on the wall, these results are similar to previous reports (Prescott, 1978;Licois, 2004;Ismail et al., 2017). The symptoms were prominent in infected untreated group (6), followed by probiotic treated-infected group 4, with the least evidence in the colistin sulfate-treated group 5. ...
Colibacillosis is a common infectious bacterial disease that can cause enteritis and high mortality in young rabbits, threatening the breeding industry. This work was performed to express some virulence-determining genes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolated E. coli and to study the efficacy of herbal oils and/ or probiotic on reducing E. coli infection in rabbits. Vaginal swabs and semen samples were collected from rabbits with reproductive problems (farm 1) and anal swabs were collected from rabbits with diarrhea (farm 2) in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt. Samples were subjected for bacterial identification, antibiogram-testing and molecular monitoring of iss and eaeA virulence genes. An experiment was performed in which 54 weaned California rabbits were divided into 6 equal groups, negative control group (G1), non-infected treated with probiotic and both fennel and moringa oils (G2), Infected and treated with probiotic, fennel and moringa oils (G3), treated with probiotic only (G4), treated with colistin sulfate (G5) and Positive control (G6). Infected groups (G3, G4, G5 and G6) were challenged orally with E. coli (1x10 7 CFU). The detection of E. coli was 15.3% (2/13) and 62.5% (10/16) in farm (1) and (2) respectively. The isolated E. coli was multidrug-resistant (MDR), carrying virulence genes iss and eaeA, with prevalence of 100% (12/12) and 50% (6 /12) respectively. Clinical symptoms were prominent in the experiment E. coli infected untreated group (6), with the least evidence in group (5). The E. coli colony counts were significantly higher in group (6) while rabbits in group (3) had significantly higher body weights compared to infected groups. Thus, it could be concluded that the use of two herbal oils and probiotics were able to reduce mortality rates, clinical signs, and the total E. coli count in experimentally infected rabbits.
... Rabbits can be infected by several species of coccidia (hosted mainly in the digestive tract), and whether or not they develop the associated disease depends on the level of infection. In our trial, both does and growing rabbits were infected by coccidia, but with no visible signs of disease, such as diarrhoea or weight loss (Licois, 2004;Pakandl, 2009). In most coccidia species, the maximum number of oocysts per rabbit that can be excreted ranges from 1 to 5×10 8 (Pakandl, 2009), 10 5 times more than the coccidia excretion rate observed here (10 3 ). ...
The performance and health of does and growing rabbits were compared over three consecutive reproductive cycles for three groups of 20 nulliparous does and their litters (DS0, DS13, DS26) fed isonutritive feeds containing 0, 13 or 26% dehydrated sainfoin (DS, Perly cultivar). Feed intake, live weight and fertility of does were not affected by DS feed incorporation. The number of live kits at birth increased linearly with increasing DS incorporation (+1.5 from DS0 to DS26, P=0.042) and the stillborn rate tended to linearly decrease in groups fed DS (16.6 vs. 10.4%, P=0.086). Increasing the level of DS in feeds had no impact on the growth of the kits before weaning, but led to a linear reduction in the post-weaning growth rate (P<0.01,-2 for 26% DS), whereas the feed conversion ratio increased linearly with DS incorporation (P<0.01, 2.91 vs. 2.98, resp. for DS0 and DS26). No effect of DS feed incorporation was detectable on doe and kit mortality rates. Excretion of coccidia by both does and growing rabbits was not affected by DS incorporation. For 70 d old rabbits, the levels of immunoglobulins A and G and of white blood cells were not significantly different between groups and high levels of IgG (average: 8.1 mg/mL) were recorded, suggesting a coccidia infestation. Overall doe mortality remained under 5% and was not affected by the reproductive cycle (P=0.24). The stillborn rate decreased from 18 to 6%, (P<0.01) from cycle 1 to 2, and the number of live rabbits at birth increased from 8.0 to 10.7 (P<0.01). Kit mortality remained low before weaning (under 2.5%), and very low after weaning (<1%). Excretion of coccidia by does decreased from cycle 1 to cycle 3, whereas excretions by growing rabbits remained stable.
... Coccidiosis, epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) and colibacillosis are the main cause of digestive disorders as death in fattening rabbits (Licois, 2004). Rabbit's endoparasitosis are common, mainly in domestic breeding. ...
Coccidiosis is cause of economic losses due to weight loss and growth retardation, decreased feeding
efficiency, diarrhea and death of weaning rabbits. The main objective of the work was to evaluate the
dynamic change of Eimeria oocyst shedding in the reproductive stage and in weaned litters during the
fattening period, in a farm for meat production, with a history of coccidiosis infection. Afaecal sample of the
following physiological condition was obtained weekly: gestation (G1, G2, G3 and G4) and lactation (L1,
L2, L3 and L4), not pregnant or not lactating were also included (V). In weaned rabbits, faecal sample / litters
were obtained weekly, until rabbits reached the slaughter weight (2.5 kg). All samples were examined by
flotation and the McMaster method. Co-infection with six species of the genus Eimeria could be observed in
all positive animals. The infection rate in rabbits varied according to physiological state, being 22.7% (G3-
L3), 13.4% (G4), 9.1% (G1-L4), 20% (GL), 4.6% (G2-L2). During the first week of lactation (L1), no
positivity was observed. Parasitic loads ranged from 40 to 13820 OPG; the highest counts were observed in
L2 and G3. In the second half of lactation, females have seven times the risk of excreting oocysts in the feces
compared to the first half. Litter rabbits excreted oocyst during all fattening period; however, during weeks 3
to 7 the oocyst excretion was higher. This is the first report in which it is described the oocysts mixture of six
Eimeria species (E. vejdovskyi, E. coecicola, E. magna, E. exigua, E. media and E. stiedae) from the rabbit
for meat production in the region. These findings show that breeding rabbits are asymptomatic carriers of
coccidian infections and can shed oocysts at any time during the reproductive cycle.
... As discussed later, the additives increased the count of the beneficial Lactobacillus spp. with a concurrent decrease in the number of the pathogenic bacterial. The presence of pathogenic bacteria causes digestive disturbances that are often responsible for high morbidity and mortality of young rabbits after weaning and economic losses in rabbit farms (Bovera et al., 2010a;Licois, 2004).The higher mortality of rabbits on high dose of additives mixture relative to the low dose further confirms the efficacy of the low dose. It appears that the high dose increased the concentration of active substances which mildly affected the rabbits but the effect was not pronounced as to raise mortality rate above that of the control rabbits. ...
... Intestinal coccidiosis in rabbits is associated with diarrhea, dehydration, inappetence, and weight loss [3,8]. Rabbits between the ages of one and three months are most susceptible to coccidiosis, especially after weaning [9,10]. Mother rabbits are generally more susceptible to infection during the perinatal period and before weaning [10,11]. ...
Simple Summary
There are limitations for using chemical products in meat production. The use of prebiotics to control Eimeria infections in rabbits may be of value. Prebiotics as a prophylaxis resulted in diminishing adverse effects caused by Eimeria spp. through decreasing fecal oocyst counts, retaining body weight, and reducing the number of parasitic stages in the intestinal tissues when compared with the non-supplemented controls.
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of prebiotic supplementation against intestinal coccidiosis in rabbits. Fifty male rabbits aged 35–60 days (1–1.5 kg) were divided into prophylactic and therapeutic experiments (five groups, 10 rabbits per group). Prophylactic experiment had prebiotic supplemented (PS-P), non-supplemented infected control (NI-P), and non-supplemented non-infected control (NN-P) groups. Ten days post-prebiotic supplementation (PPS), rabbits in groups PS-P and NI-P were infected orally with 5.0 × 10⁴ sporulated oocysts of mixed Eimeria species. However, therapeutic experiment had prebiotic supplemented (PS-T) and untreated infected (UI-T) groups of naturally infected rabbits with Eimeria species. A significant reduction in oocyst count per gram feces (OPG) (p ≤ 0.05) was reported in the PS-P (57.33 × 10³ ± 2.84) and NI-P (130.83 × 10³ ± 43.38) groups during the experiment. Additionally, rabbits in groups (PS-P, 970.33 ± 31.79 g and NI-P, 870.66 ± 6.66 g) showed weight loss after infection. However, a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decrease in OPG was observed at day seven PPS in the PS-T group (4 × 10³ ± 0.00) when compared with the UI-T group (32 × 10³ ± 7.54). Furthermore, the PS-T group had a higher body weight than rabbits in the UI-T group. Histopathological findings of the intestinal tissues (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) showed that the counts of the endogenous stages were significantly higher in the NI-P and UI-T groups than in the prebiotic-supplemented groups (PS-P and PS-T). Supplementation of the prebiotic did not have any adverse effects on biochemical parameters, such as AST, ALT, creatinine, total protein, and total cholesterol. In conclusion, prebiotic supplementation can be used to minimize the adverse effects of intestinal coccidiosis in rabbits, which in turn limits body weight loss, especially for the prophylaxis of coccidial infection.
... Coccidiosis causes stress in rabbit that will decrease plasma serum and eventually mortality (Lester et al, 2005). In rabbits, however, recurring infection resulted in immunity against the infected species only, not in all Eimeria spp (Licois, 2004). In fact, most prevalent coccidiosis in nature is caused by more than one species of Eimeria spp is a common thing (Okumu et al, 2014). ...
The objective of the research was to investigate body weight, oocyte elimination and blood profile of rabbits infected with various doses of Eimeria stiedai isolates. The observed rabbits’ blood profile included erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit, leucocyte, thrombocyte, total protein plasma (TPP) and fibrinogen. Twenty-five male New Zealand White rabbits aged 3 months and weighed approximately 2 kg were provided with pellet and boiled drinking water and Eimeria stiedai isolates. The experiment used Completely Randomized Design to analyze 5 treatments with five replicates. The examined variables included D0: Infection 0 (control of infection without challenge test), D1: Infection 101 with challenge test 103, D2: infection 102 with challenge test 103, D3: infection 103 with challenge test 103, D4: infection 0 with challenge test 103 (control of infection). Data were subject to analysis of variance followed by Honestly Significant Difference Test (HSD). Analysis of Variance result showed that there was no significant difference on body weight, oocyte elimination and blood profile including erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit, leucocyte, thrombocyte, and fibrinogen. However, total protein plasma (TTP) was significantly different at 5% HSD. It can be concluded that challenge test with Eimeria stiedai has not been used as an alternative in increasing rabbits’ body immune against coccidiosis infection.
... It can be encountered in more than 95% of this case. So, diarrhea presents a earnest economic importance, especially in young rabbits after weaning (4 to 10 weeks) (Licois, 2004). ...
Rabbit farms still unstable because they face serious problems such as the bacteria, virus, and parasites disease causing economic losses. The goal of this work is to study the defensin genes in healthy and infected rabbits from V-line Alexandria line. Histological sections of the healthy tissues where exhibited that normal feature as outer serosa, submucosa, cross sections of intestinal glands, but the infected tissues illustrated moderately disorganized and destructive villi and increase cellular infiltration in lamina propria at 73 days of age. Healthy rabbits showed significantly higher values in Hb, RBCs, PCV %, and Lymphocyte cells by 19.2, 13.7, 15.6 and 60.5% than infected growing rabbits. Also, the differences of the beta-defensin gene using specific primers and PCR technique, in addition to the sequencing were performed in all healthy mothers (control) and infected rabbits from both lines. The resulting sequences were compared with those in GenBank, and similarities between samples were examined using the program of (EMBOSS Needle). The phylogenic trees that illustrated similarities and differences between the beta-defensin genes were performed using the MEGA6 program.The differences between serum proteins, using the SDS-PAGE technique, were tested in studied samples. The samples were taken from 30 healthy and infected rabbits from two lines Alexandria and V-line.
... Our results revealed high OPG values in weaned rabbits which would explain to clinical coccidiosis. However, the occurrence of diarrhea may also have a bacterial origin [32]. ...
Aim
The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and intensity of rabbit coccidiosis (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in North Algeria.
Materials and Methods
During the study, 40 rabbit farms were investigated. The farms are located in the provinces of Tizi Ouzou, Médéa, and Djelfa which distributed, respectively, into three regions: East Tell Atlas Mountains, Central Tell Atlas Mountains, and High Plateaus. The number of oocyst per gram of feces (OPG) was determined by McMaster technique, and the Eimeria species were identified using morphological criteria.
Results
In the farms investigated, the prevalence of coccidian infection was estimated to 90% (80.7-99.3%) in rabbits after weaning. The classification of the farms according to their parasite load allowed us to show that 37.5% of the prospective farms have an oocyst excretion between 10⁴ and 5×10⁴ oocysts per gram and 22.5% excrete >5×10⁴ oocysts per gram. Excretion levels by region show that the region of East Tel Atlas Mountains ranks first with 79% of farms with a parasitic load >10⁴ coccidians compared to the regions of Central Tel Atlas Mountains and High Plateaus. In total, eight species of Eimeria were identified from oocyst-positive samples. Mixed infections with four Eimeria species were common. E. magna is the dominant species in comparison with E. media and E. irresidua with respective frequencies of 42.5% and 17.6% and 14.9% (p<0.001). Our results showed that the farms using anticoccidial drugs for their rabbits were low (25%) and the percentage of farms with poor hygienic conditions was 65%. There was a significant association between increased oocysts excretion and control measures of coccidian infection.
Conclusion
The study revealed an overall prevalence of 90% in the three Algerian regions. A strong association was observed between Eimeria infection and hygienic status and preventional chemotherapy.
... In order to control coccidial disease and oocyst excretion caused by Eimeria spp., prophylactic coccidiostatic drugs are usually added to the feed. However, concerns of rising of resistance to these drugs have increased (FVE 2016), as cases have been described in several rabbit farms of dispersion of robenidine-resistant strains of Eimeria magna, E. media and E. perforans (Licois 2004(Licois , 2010. Also, the concern of consumers on the wide use of synthetic drugs in agriculture and animal breeding is increasing (Pakandl 2009). ...
The potential anti-eimerial effect of tannin containing resources such as sainfoin and carob in rabbits was tested on does at pre-weaning and to growing rabbits in their feed. The trial began at parturition (D0), when 24 does and their litters were assigned into three groups. They were fed either with a control (Group CO), a carob (containing 10% carob pods meal) (Group CP) or a sainfoin diet (containing 34% dehydrated sainfoin pellets) (Group SA). All diets were made isoproteic and isoenergetic and also balanced for crude fibre but differed by their tannin content. Weaning occurred at D37, and growing rabbits remained in the same cage until D51. Then, they were transferred to fattening cages until the end of the trial (D104) and slaughtering. Weight gain of young rabbits among the three groups (mean = 31.2 g/day) did not differ statistically. The mortality rates were 10% (SA), 15% (CP) and 20% (CO), respectively, but the differences were not statistically significant. Post-weaning economical feed conversion ratio (FCR) was reduced between rabbits of group SA compared to CO and CP groups. Faecal oocyst count (FOC) in group SA was 60% lower than in CO and CP groups. Areas under the curve (AUCs) calculated between sampling days and FOC, after transfer to fattening cages, was 62% lower in group SA than in CO and CP groups. The main Eimeria species identified (from D59 to D83) was Eimeria magna (53% of oocysts). AUCs for E. magna did not differ according to diet. In conclusion, the diet containing sainfoin reduced oocyst excretion of Eimeria spp. by 60%, and improved the economical FCR.
... Djakalia et al. (2011) reported that M. oleifera may have some antimicrobial activity and could be used to control pathogenic bacteria. E. coli are normal inhabitants of the intestinal tract of many animal species including rabbits, and can cause digestive disturbances that are often responsible for high morbidity and mortality of young rabbits after weaning, and consequently for important economic losses in rabbit farms (Licois, 2004). ...
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of feeding dried foliage (leaves and petioles) of Acacia saligna, Leucaena leucocephala or Moringa oleifera on the performance, digestibility, N utilisation, caecal fermentation and microbial profiles in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. One hundred weaned male NZW rabbits weighing 819.2±16.6 g and aged 35±1 d were randomly allocated into 4 groups of 25 rabbits each. Rabbits were fed on pelleted diets containing 70% concentrate mixture and 30% Egyptian berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) hay (Control diet) or one of the other 3 experimental diets, where 50% of berseem hay was replaced with A. saligna (AS), L. leucocephala (LL) or M. oleifera (MO). Compared to Control diet, decreases in dry matter (DM; P=0.004), organic matter (P=0.028), crude protein (CP; P=0.001), neutral detergent fibre (P=0.033) and acid detergent fibre (P=0.011) digestibility were observed with the AS diet. However, DM and CP digestibility were increased by 3% with the MO diet, and N utilisation was decreased (P
... In growing rabbits, particularly weaners, digestive disturbances are the main cause of the morbidity and mortality that create important economic losses for rabbit farmers (Marlier et al., 2006;Licois, 2004). Weaning is the period in which the kits are separated from their mothers, milk is substituted with solid feed, and the kits' immune system is still immature Gidenne et al., 2005). ...
... According to Boucher and Leplat (2005) and Rosell et al. (2009), digestive diseases are currently the main cause of morbidity in growing rabbits, resulting in dramatic mortality rate increases in fattening rabbitries (Rosell, 2003;Licois, 2004). In recent years, the occurrence of digestive disorders was prevented by the inclusion of antibiotics in the feed. ...
This work aimed to test the effect of a dietary inclusion of formic and citric acids on growth performance, mortality, jejunal histology and development of intestinal lymphoid tissues in growing non-medicated rabbits. To this end, a control diet (diet C; 35.9 and 34.7% NDF and 18.9 and 19.1% CP, on DM basis, in the 2855 d and 56-77 d periods, respectively) was compared with the same diet supplemented with a blend of microencapsulated formic and citric acids (diet A: diet C enriched with 0.4% and 0.2% in the 28-55 d and 56-77 d periods, respectively). Sixty rabbits weaned at 28 d were assigned to each diet. At 56 and 77 d, 5 rabbits per diet and age were slaughtered to assess caecal traits, jejunal histology and follicular development in the caudal ileal Peyer's patch and the appendix. No dietary effects were observed on growth performance in the 28-55 d period. In the 56-77 d period, average daily gain of rabbits fed diet A was greater than that of control rabbits (48.0 vs. 43.9 g; P=O.019). Mortality rate was not affected by the diet (11.8% on average). Caecal pH, volatile fatty acids and ammonia concentration, and appendix size were not affected by diet. Caecal pH was lower at 77 than at 56 d (6.02 vs 6.19; P=0.016). The concentrations of ammonia (P=0.003) and volatile fatty acids (P<<0.001) in the caecal contents increased, respectively, from 9.62 and 70.5 to 14.2 and 81.9 mmol/L when rabbits reached 77 d of age. At 77 d the appendix was heavier (4.30 vs. 3.21 g/kg BW; P<<0.001 ), longer (13.3 vs. 10.4 cm; P<<0.001) and wider (1.74 vs. 1.45 cm; P=0.006) than at 56 d. At 56 d, villi of control rabbits were shorter than those of rabbits fed diet A and than those of rabbits aged 77 d, irrespective of the dietary treatment (662 vs. 807 urn; P<<0.001 ). In the Peyer's patch, the average follicle area was greater at 77 than at 56 d of age (118 vs. 88.4 x 10 3 urn 2; P<<0.001) and was also greater in rabbits fed diet C than in those fed diet A (109 vs. 97.5 x 10 3 uμrn 2; P=O.049). In the appendix, no differences in the average follicle area were found at 56 d of age (115×10 3 urn 2), whereas at 77 d the area increase was higher for rabbits fed diet C than for those fed diet A (95.5 vs. 50.8%; P<<0.001). In conclusion, including formic and citric acids in growing rabbit diets improved weight gain in the 56-77 period, had a trophic effect on the jejunal mucosa at 56 d and controlled the hypertrophy of gut-associated lymphoid tissues.
... However, rabbits are very susceptible to various infections and have high mortality, especially after weaning. Among them, the intestinal disease is one of most common diseases and results in considerable economic losses in industrial rabbit farms (Licois, 2004). On the whole, intestinal disease could be separated into the specific enteropathies and non-specific digestive disorder according to whether the specific pathogens are present (De Rochambeau et al., 2006;Dewrée et al., 2007). ...
The NLRP12 (NLR family, pyrin domain containing 12) serves as a suppressor factor in the inflammatory response and protects the host against inflammation-induced damage. In the present study, we aimed to study the polymorphisms of NLRP12 gene and its association with susceptibility to non-specific digestive disorder (NSDD) in rabbits. We re-sequenced the entire coding region of the rabbit NLRP12 gene and detected a total of 19 SNPs containing 14 synonymous and five non-synonymous variations. Among them, the coding SNP (c.1682A>G), which would carry a potential functional implication, was subsequently subjected to genotyping for case-control association study (272 cases and 267 controls). The results revealed that allele A was significantly protective against NSDD with an odds ratio value of 0.884 (95% confidence interval, 0.788 to 0.993; p = 0.038). We also experimentally induced NSDD in growing rabbits by feeding a fibre-deficient diet and subsequently investigated NLRP12 mRNA expression. The mRNA expression of NLRP12 in healthy status was significantly higher than that in severe NSDD (p = 0.0016). The highest expression was observed in individuals carrying the protective genotype AA (p = 0.0108). These results suggested that NLRP12 was significantly associated with the NSDD in rabbits. However, the precise molecular mechanism of NLRP12 involving in the development of rabbit NSDD requires further research.
... Digestive disorders are one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity in fattening rabbits and the resulting mortality and growth delay are responsible for considerable economic losses in rabbit farms. The main infectious agents involved in rabbit digestive disorders are bacterial (Escherichia coli, Clostridium spp), and parasitic (Eimeriaspp) (Licois, 2004). In addition to these well-known diseases, a new digestive syndrome appeared in rabbit farms in western France during 1996. ...
... In commercial rabbit farms mortality and morbility of young rabbits due to enteropathies are recurrent and often reach a very high level. Physiological conditions in the caecum protects against the occurrence of non-specific post-weaning enteropathies (Padhila et al., 1995; Piattoni et al., 1996) by inhibiting the proliferation of some dangerous germ species (Morisse et al., 1985 ), whereas several inappropriate management practices, stress and feed favour its proliferation (Licois, 2004). In particular, feeding protocols not specifically tailored to young rabbits (Maertens, 1992; Gidenne and Fortun-Lamothe, 2002) can easily worsen the caecal microbial environment. ...
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the administration of fresh chicory (Chicorium intybus L.) to young pups before and after weaning, investigating the morphological development of two main lymphoid tissues (appendix and Peyer's patch) and the productive performance. The trial was divided in two parts: the first, immediately after kindling, 20 New Zealand White (NZW) multiparous rabbit does were homogenised for litter size (n = 8) and were divided into two groups: control group, in which young rabbits (from 18 to 28 d) fed a standard diet; chicory group, in which young rabbits were fed control diet and fresh chicory, separately. In the second trial the young rabbits pursued the same diet until 77 d old. At weaning, 10 young rabbits/group were weighed and killed. The pH, dry matter, ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFA) were evaluated on the caecal content. The histological sections were made of the appendix and Peyer's patch. The dietary administration of fresh chicory to young rabbits before weaning, improved biochemical traits of caecum content: the lowered NH 3 (0.5 versus 0.6 mol/g; P<0.05) and pH values (5.9 versus 6.1; P<0.05) and the increased VFA content
... In fact, the resistance of some coccidia (E. magna, E. media, E. perforans) to this drug has been mentioned (Licois, 2004). In spite of non-significant differences in mortality rate among groups during the starter period, morbidity of rabbits as well as the health risk index were affected by dietary treatments used in this study. ...
The effect of a dietary supplementation with mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS, Bio-Mos, Alltech Inc.) and inulin (Frutafit® IQ) on growth, health, and caecal traits was studied on 348 rabbits (Hyplus®), weaned at 25 days of age. Three hundred and thirty rabbits (110 per group) were used for the health status and growth performance trial, while 18 rabbits (six per group) were used for caecal metabolism evaluation at the age of 42 days of age. Three diets were formulated: C (control), M (0.3% MOS) and I diet (4% inulin). Digestibility of the diets was measured in 10 rabbits per group between 36 and 40 days of age. The control diet was fed to rabbits of the C group from weaning to 74 days of age (slaughter). Diets M and I were fed to rabbits of the respective group from weaning to 46 days of age, then were fed with control diet till slaughter. From 25 to 46 days of age, the weight gain was slightly higher in control rabbits ( P = 0.11), while no differences were recorded for the whole period. No differences among groups in the mortality, which was high due to an enteropathy-infected environment, were significant. The lowest morbidity ( P = 0.05) as well as the health risk index were recorded in rabbits fed the diet with inulin ( P = 0.03). After change of diet, the health risk index increased in the rabbits previously fed the diet with additives, thereby no significant differences in the health status were recorded for the whole period. Total caecal volatile fatty acids concentration was higher ( P
... The syndrome may be multifactorial with several microorganisms acting in synergy and with environmental factors also altering or infl uencing rabbit physiology, metabolism, and immune response. Within this miscellaneous group of enteric pathologies, some diseases appear to possess peculiar features, such as the epizootic rabbit enteropathy, enterotoxemia caused by Clostridium spiriforme and C. perfrigens (29), C. diffi cile (30) infection, Tyzzer disease (caused by C. piliformis), mucoid enteropathy, Escherichia coli enteritis, and coccidiosis (31). ...
By screening rabbits with enterocolitis or enteritis complex and asymptomatic rabbits, we identified a novel astrovirus. The virus was distantly related (19.3%-23.7% aa identity) in the capsid precursor to other mammalian astroviruses within the Mamastrovirus genus. By using real-time reverse transcription PCR, with specific primers and probes and targeting a conserved stretch in open reading frame 1b, we found rabbit astrovirus in 10 (43%) of 23 samples from animals with enteric disease and in 25 (18%) of 139 samples from asymptomatic animals in Italy during 2005-2008. The mean and median titers in the positive animals were 10(2)× and 10(3)× greater, respectively, in the symptomatic animals than in the asymptomatic animals. These findings support the idea that rabbit astroviruses should be included in the diagnostic algorithm of rabbit enteric disease and animal experiments to increase information obtained about their epidemiology and potential pathogenic role.
... Growing rabbits are very susceptible to digestive disorders. According to Licois (2004), the etiology of the intestinal infections is still not clear since there are often multiple causes, and symptoms are comparable. A key role in the prevention of digestive troubles is played by feeding diets with the correct supply of fibre fractions (Bennegadi et al., 2001;Gidenne et al., 2004a). ...
A total of 240 rabbits ( Hyplus(R) ), weaned at 35 days of age, were used for growth rate and health status evaluation. Rabbits were divided into two groups (group S14 and group S12), and fed diets S14 (diet Starch 14%) and S12 (diet Starch 12%) formulated according to the most recent recommendations for rabbit feeding. The study was performed on a commercial farm. The diets were similar in the level of crude protein, fibre fractions and fat, but differed in the level of starch (14.4 vs. 11.9% in the S14 and S12 diets, respectively) and consequently digestible energy (10.0 vs. 9.6 MJ/kg), as well as in the digestible protein/digestible energy ratio. Rabbits of the S14 group received diet S14 from weaning to slaughter (77 days of age). Those in the S12 group received diet S12 from weaning to 49 days of age and were then fed with the S14 diet till slaughter. No significant differences were observed in feed intake between groups. For the entire fattening period, the weight gain values observed for the rabbits of the S12 group, were lower than those observed of the S14 group, but non significant differences were recorded (39.9 vs. 41.3 g/d, P=0.10). Rabbit mortality was relatively low and no significant differences were recorded between groups, either during post-weaning or in the finishing period. However, both morbidity (P=0.01) and health risk index (P=0.03) were observed to be significantly higher in rabbits of the S12 group than in those of the S14 group. The highest number of sick rabbits in the S12 group was recorded before the change of diet. Similar morbidity was subsequently observed in both groups. It can be concluded that i) a lower dietary starch level did not prevent digestive troubles in weaned rabbits and ii) a 14% dietary starch level is suitable for both growth and good health status in the post-weaning and finishing period.
... In the late 90s a new syndrome called ERE, Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy (Enteropatìa Mucoide (Rosell, 2000); Enteropatia Enzootica (Alberti, 2006)) began to spread in European countries (Licois et al., 2005). Under experimental conditions the disease is characterised by the clinical signs of borgorygmus ( " rumbling noise " ), distension of the whole intestinal tract, including the stomach, with gas and fluid, sometimes associated with caecal paresis and the presence of mucus in the colon (Licois, 2004; Licois et al., 2005). Under field conditions, the feature most often reported is caecal impaction and the presence of mucoid substance in the colon (Rosell, 2000; Gallazzi, 1998). ...
In a rabbit production facility, health monitoring for enteropathies was performed in 15 production cycles for 20 mo. For each cycle, up to a hundred 35 d old rabbits weaned the same day were randomly selected, reared in the same fattening unit, but separately from the source batch and fed with the same feed except for antimicrobial supplementation. Clinical symptoms and enteric lesions of the selected group were recorded, using two checklists with binomial response (yes/no answer to a list of 54 clinical and enteric variables). The day after weaning, one week later, at the beginning of the enteric symptoms and 4-5 d after the start of the symptoms, inocula from the small intestine and caecum of selected animals were subjected to microbiological, C. spiroforme, Eimeria oocyst and rotavirus antigen detection tests. Representative samples of E. coli and C. perfringens isolates were tested, respectively, for serotype, biotype, eae, afr/2 genes and for a, b1, b2, e, i and enterotoxin toxin genes. The answers to the clinical-pathological variables were subjected to statistical analysis with a cluster analysis programme in order to obtain homogeneous, statistically significant groups of diseased animals (clusters). Then, the clusters were statistically associated with the laboratory outcomes. The cluster to which the enterotyphlitis lesions significantly contributed was associated with E. coli detection, E. coli O103 serotype detection and C. spiroforme ("several elements" variable). C. spiroforme ("rare elements" variable) was significantly associated with a cluster, characterised by a pathological profile consisting of bloating/rumbling noise and liquid content in stomach and caecum, without enteric inflammation. C. perfringens was significantly associated with a cluster, characterised by a pathological profile consisting of dilation/liquid content of small intestine, caecal impaction and mucoid content in the colon. Eighteen out of twenty-fi ve C. perfringens strains, examined for their toxin genotypes, proved to be toxin type A, while 7 out of 25 strains showed the a and b2 toxin genes in combination. The rotavirus antigen and Eimeria oocysts were detected from healthy rabbits (specimens of the day after weaning and one week later) in about 15% of specimens examined, but their presence in the sick animals was not significantly associated with any cluster.
... Digestive troubles of multifactorial ethiology are the first cause of mortality in growing rabbits (Licois, 2004). Besides to characterize the implicated pathogenic agents, it is fundamental to individuate and eliminate the environmental and dietary factors favouring the disease outbreak. ...
Olive stone meal is a low-digested fibre source potentially useful in the prevention of digestive troubles in growing rabbit permitting a better balance of dietary fibre fractions. To evaluate its efficacy, three experimental diets containing 0, 3 or 6% olive stone meal were fed to 222 rabbits from weaning (28 d) to slaughter (73 d). Olive stone inclusion increased the proportion of large dietary particles while did not affect growth performance, digestive physiology and carcass and meat quality. Due to optimum health status observed in all experimental groups, the preventive action of olive stone meal against the occurrence of digestive troubles was not proven.
Understanding the effects of antibiotics on immunogen expression and the genetic consequences of antibiotic overuse in rabbit farms are becoming increasingly important as customers become more interested in healthy and safe products. The present study was destined to evaluate the effect of Neomycin, as a common antibiotic used in rabbit farms, on immune genes, some hematological parameters, and small intestinal histology in two rabbit lines: V and Alexandria. A total of 160 rabbits were orally provided 50 mg of Neomycin in 5 ml of water daily. The immunity genes have been studied using IL-2, IL-4 and CD1. The results showed an independent relationship between Neomycin-treated groups. At 21 days of age, V-line rabbits had the lowest levels of hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cells (RBCs), and lymphocytes compared to the Alexandria line. The responder rabbits showed the highest value in Hb, RBCs, and lymphocytes while the non-responder rabbits showed the highest value in WBCs. Several cytokines were tested, and no significant differences were found between the two lines. While CD1A1 (T cell surface glycoprotein CD1) increased the gene expression in the V-line innate-immune group and the responder group to the Neomycin. Based on the findings, Neomycin enhanced rabbits' immune responses.
This chapter discusses the parasitic diseases in rabbits and their prevention methods. Rabbits serve not only as an important animal species for biomedical research but also as a common food source for people throughout the globe. Over the past several decades, great attention has been paid to controlling and eliminating the parasitic diseases of rabbits with the goal of making them more suitable animals for the laboratory environment as well as to increase their meat production capacity. Maintaining excellent levels of hygiene is especially critical with treating, controlling, and or/preventing parasitic infections in rabbits. The use of nonsolid flooring, along with proper sanitation, has been noted to decrease the level of fecal-borne parasites in rabbits today compared to other housing systems. Commercial vendors of research-exclusive rabbits in North America are mostly located in the eastern United States and Canada. Coccidiosis is considered to be one of the most important diseases of rabbits worldwide, affecting wild rabbits and domestic rabbits used for research, meat production, and companionship. Prevention is primarily through acquiring only coccidia-free animals and maintaining good sanitation. The severity of clinical disease is dependent on the amount of infective agent present, the susceptibility of the animal, and the pathogenicity of the agent. Subclinical infections can exist with no clinical signs. Diarrhea is the main clinical sign of disease associated with all of the intestinal coccidia species.
Two experiments, an apparent digestibility trial and a feeding experiment, were carried out to evaluate the effect of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) supplied as triacylglycerols (TAG) to a diet of growing rabbits. Hyplus rabbits weaned at the age of 35 days were used. In the digestibility trial 20 rabbits were housed individually, in the feeding experiment 216 rabbits were housed four per cage. Rabbits of experimental groups received a diet supplemented with 10gkg−1 of Akomed R (TAG of caprylic and capric acid). Coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of dry matter, N-free extract and ash was higher by 3.4, 3.8 and 9.9%, respectively, in rabbits fed the diet with Akomed R than in control rabbits (P
In rabbit management, coccidiosis caused by Eimeria protozoa is a serious health, production and economic problem due to its widespread occurrence. According to Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on additives for use in animal nutrition, coccidiostats will be phased out of use by 31 December 2012. This has prompted a search for natural alternatives to coccidiostats, which could stop the progression of this disease. The aim of the study was to identify parasitic invasions in a herd of rabbits before and after the use of natural alternatives to common coccidiostatic drugs and to determine the effect of these alternatives on rabbit performance and meat quality. Different proportions of feed additives based on natural oregano and garlic oils, added to complete diets, had a positive effect on the weight gains of young rabbits during the study from 35 to 90 days of age. In all experimental groups, dressing percentage was higher than the values reported for New Zealand White rabbits, and the feed additives had no effect on the taste of meat samples evaluated. Properly formulated rations of the concentrates reduced the intensity of coccidial infections while protecting the animals against secondary bacterial and viral infections, which usually accompany coccidiosis and are a common cause of mortality. The present results suggest that the herb extracts can be successfully used in prophylaxis as natural alternatives to coccidiostats in feeds.
Susceptibility of the rabbit enteropathogenic strain Escherichia coli C6 (O128 serogroup) to C6-C14 fatty acids, oleic, citric, lactic and fumaric acid at 5 mg/mL was determined by the plating technique in the near-neutral pH region (pH approximately 6.5), and in a weakly acid and acid environment (pH 5.4 +/- 0.1 and 2.2-2.5, respectively). In the near-neutral pH region caproic and caprylic acid reduced the concentration of viable cells by 3 and 6 orders, respectively. At lower pH the bactericidal effect of caproic acid remained similar, but caprylic acid decreased the concentration of viable cells to < 100/mL. The bactericidal activity of capric acid was low at pH 6.5 but increased at pH 5.3. High environmental acidity was intrinsically bactericidal and at very low pH the effects of fatty acids were thus less pronounced. Citric acid reduced the counts of viable cells to 1/10. Antimicrobial activity of other acids examined was marginal or absent. Medium-chain fatty acids, caprylic and, to a lesser extent, also caproic and capric acid were better antimicrobials than other organic acids examined; the antimicrobial activity of fatty acids toward the C6 strain was pH-dependent. Beneficial effects of citric, lactic and fumaric acid reported by animal nutritionists are thus probably related to factors other than their direct antimicrobial action.
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