Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of animals caused by coccidian protozoa. The disease spreads from one animal to another by contact with infected feces or ingestion of infected tissue. Diarrhea, which may become bloody in severe cases, is the primary symptom. Most animals infected with coccidia are asymptomatic, but young or immunocompromised animals may suffer severe symptoms and death. While coccidia can infect a wide variety of animals, including humans, birds, and livestock, they are usually species-specific. One well-known exception is toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii.Humans may first encounter coccidia when they acquire a dog, cat or bird that is infected. Other than T. gondii, the infectious organisms are canine and feline-specific and are not contagious to humans, unlike the zoonotic diseases. Coccidia in dogs
Puppies are frequently infected with coccidia from the feces of their mother, and are more likely to develop coccidiosis due to their undeveloped immune systems. Stress can trigger symptoms in susceptible animals.Symptoms in young dogs include diarrhoea with mucus and blood, poor appetite, vomiting, and dehydration. Untreated, the disease can be fatal. Treatment is routine and effective. Diagnosis is made by low-powered microscopic examination of the feces, which is generally replete with oocysts. Readily available drugs eliminate the protozoa or reduce them enough that the animals immune system can clear the infection. Permanent damage to the gastrointestinal system is rare, and a dog will usually suffer no long-lasting negative effects. SYMPTOM A VOMITING OF DOGS IS YELLOW AND BLACKISH.
Sulfonamides are the most common treatment. Genus Eimeria affects birds such as poultry and mammals such as cattle and rabbits. Species include E. tenella, E. brunetti, E. necatrix, and E. acervulina. Sulfonamides are effective. Genus Cryptosporidium contains two species known to cause cryptosporidiosis, C. parvum and C. muris. Cattle are most commonly affected, and their feces may be a source of infection for other mammals, including humans. Recent genetic analyses of Cryptosporidium in humans have identified C. hominis as a human-specific pathogen. Infection occurs most commonly in immunocompromised individuals, such as dogs with canine distemper, cats with feline leukemia, and humans with AIDS. Genus Hammondia is transmitted by ingestion of cysts found in the tissue of grazing animals and rodents. Dogs and cats are the definitive hosts, with H. heydorni infecting dogs and the H. hammondi and H. pardalis infecting cats. Symptoms do not usually occur. Genus Besnoitia infects cats that ingest cysts in the tissue of rodents and opossums, but usually do not cause disease. Genus Sarcocystis infects carnivores that ingest cysts from various intermediate hosts. Sarcocystis may cause disease in dogs and cats. Genus Toxoplasma has one important species, T. gondii. Cats are the definitive host, but all mammals and some fish, reptiles, and amphibians can be intermediate hosts. Only cat feces will hold infective oocysts, but infection through ingestion of cysts can occur with the tissue of any intermediate host. Toxoplasmosis occurs in humans usually as low-grade fever or muscle pain for a few days.