Guinea pigs Coccidiosis is a disease that guinea pigs are prone to suffer from when their immunity is low, especially in the cold and humid season such as spring, so guinea pig coccidiosis guinea pigs are likely to suffer from it. What are the symptoms and how should they be treated?

Himalaya Guinea pigs

1. Clinical symptoms and pathological changes

Animals showed lethargy, loss of appetite, and finally loss of appetite constipation, diarrhea, unformed stools, mucus, sticky anus, and in severe cases, cannot afford to lie on the ground. Before death, there were neurological symptoms, such as convulsions and convulsions. Among the 28 guinea pigs in this batch, 11 died.

Pathological changes; Pale mucous membranes, empty stomach, small intestinal flatulence, colonic and cecal mucosal spot hemorrhages, flatulence, blood in the cecum and colon contents, and foul odor. Mesenteric hyperemia. The intestinal mucosa was scraped, and a large number of coccidia schizonts, gametophytes and oocysts were found by microscopy.

2. Experimental diagnosis

1. Fecal examination: Take about 5g of feces, add 33% zinc sulfate to float for 15~30 minutes, and take the supernatant Add 4 times of water, centrifuge at 2000 g for 30 minutes, take the precipitate, and examine it under a light microscope. The oocysts are oval in shape with a smooth brown membrane outside. The average size of the oocysts is 18 m × 15 m and contains a spheroplast.

2. Directly scraping the intestinal mucosa to check the schizonts: After dissecting the animals, directly scraping the intestinal mucosa, adding a little normal saline, and directly picking up the schizonts after adding a cover glass. The membrane of the schizont is thicker, with an average size of 12 x 8. There are multiple merozoites in it. After pressing hard, the merozoites can be seen to move after they escape. It can also be stained with sand yellow and pod blue (smear-flame fixation-add 2% hydrochloric acid methanol for 3 minutes-1% sand yellow aqueous solution-heat to steam for 1-2 minutes-wash with water-1 methylene blue aqueous solution for 30 seconds), wash with water Microscopically, schizonts, gametophytes and oocysts were stained orange-red, and the background was blue.

3. Treatment and preventive measures

The symptomatic guinea pigs were killed. The asymptomatic guinea pigs were given 0.02 sulfaquine in their drinking water. Oxaline for 1 week. Burn dead animal carcasses and bedding materials, and disinfect the room and all utensils with 10% formalin solution. After the above-mentioned measures were taken, no patients with the disease continued to be found in this batch of guinea pigs.

4. Discussion of guinea pig coccidiosis

Softball distribution in the US, France, UK, Germany, Poland, the former Soviet Union, India, Brazil, Peru There have been reports of natural onset m. There are few reports of natural outbreaks of guinea pig coccidiosis in my country. According to foreign reports. The disease mostly occurs in harsh climates or when the body's resistance decreases. This outbreak may be related to the introduction of this batch of guinea pigs from the north of the United States in winter. Due to climate change, the replacement of feed and environment caused guinea pigs' stress and decreased body resistance. The infection rate and mortality reported in different regions abroad are different. In South America, young guinea pigs have an infection rate of 100%, and the mortality rate can be as high as 42%. Guinea pigs of all ages can be infected, adult guinea pigs are mostly worm-carrying, and young mice are seriously endangered.

The infection route of guinea pig coccidiosis is mostly oral infection caused by infectious oocysts in feces contaminating food and drinking water. Therefore, the key to preventing this disease is to prevent the feed and drinking water from being polluted. First of all, when designing the feeding trough of the cage, there should be a certain distance from the bottom of the cage, and the feeding trough should be semi-closed to prevent the guinea pigs from jumping in and discharging feces into the feeding trough. The feeding trough should be thoroughly cleaned every day, and 10% ammonia water or 10 formalin can be sterilized if conditions permit. When feeding green fodder, pay special attention not to put it directly into the cage.