The efficiency of toltrazuril, thymol, and toltrazuril plus thymol combination on eimeriosis in lamb

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate and compare the efficacy of the treatment with a single dose of toltrazuril 5% (Baycox), thymol (Versatile, Nine Life, United Arab Emirates), and toltrazuril + thymol combination to control Eimeria spp. infection in lambs in intensive feeding. The study was designed with five groups and these groups aligned as; group 1 (negative control group; NEG), group 2 (positive control group; POZ), group 3 (thymol; THY), group 4 (toltrazuril; TOL) and group 5 [(thymol + toltrazuril; (THY + TOL)]. Each group consisted of 26 Merino lambs which are 60-75 days old each. Treatment groups were administered orally as a single dose [(40 mg/kg/ bw THY (crystal formulation, 100% purity (with feed), 20 mg/kg/bw TOL, THY + TOL [(40 mg/kg/bw THY (with feed) + 20 mg/kg/bw TOL)] and the groups were compared each other in terms of efficacy, fecal scoring, and body weight gain. In addition, Eimeria species identification was also performed. Eimeria ahsata was the most abundant species in infected lambs. Treatment efficacy was found to be 75.15% in the THY, 99.50% in the TOL, and 95.42% in the THY + TOL groups. In conclusion, a single dose of TOL and THY + TOL were found to be highly effective in both clinical and subclinical eimeriosis in lambs. In addition, although single usage of THY is not effective in clinical coccidiosis, it can be used prophylactically in subclinical infections. To find out the anticoccidial effects of THY, it needs more studies to administer different and repeated doses.