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An electron microscopic study of the endogenous development of Eimeria mulardi Chauve, Reynaud and Gounel, 1994 was carried out in mule ducks which are hybrids of the domestic duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and the muscovy duck (Cairina moschata). All of the endogenous stages were seen within the nucleus of the host cell. Merozoites arose from ectomerogony and three mutually similar merogonies were noted. The asexual stages were found in leukocyte-like cells in the lamina propria of the jejunum, ileum and caecum, while the gamonts developed in glandular epithelial cells in the same part of the intestine.

An experimental Eimeria mulardi coccidiosis was reproduced in mule ducks. A single dose of toltrazuril (7 mg per kg) was administered at two different endogenous stages: Day 2 (first meronts) or Day 5 (last meronts and gamonts). The efficacy of the drug was assessed on four criteria (body weight, oocyst counts, macroscopic lesions, and presence of the meronts and gamonts). To have a curative effect, a single dose of toltrazuril should be administered early on. However, a single treatment on Day 5 had a prophylactic effect.

Pathogenicity of Eimeria mulardi Chauve et al., 1994 in experimentally infected mule-ducks. Precision on pathological stages The pathogenicity of Eimeria mulardi has been studied in mule-ducklings orally inoculated with sporulated oocysts. With two dose levels (10(5) or 10(6) oocysts per bird), a significant loss of body-weight was observed, whereas no loss of weight was observed with a dose level of 10(4). With a dose of 10(6) oocysts per bird, inflammatory and haemorrhagic changes associated with obstruction mainly involving the end of the jejunum, the ileum and the caeca were seen from day 5 post-inoculation. Pathogenicity of Eimeria mulardi is due to the last generation of meronts and essentially to gamonts.

A new species of coccidium. Eimeria mulardi n. sp., has been described from the mule duck. The endogenous cycle is studied in experimentally infected ducks. A least two generations of meronts were observed, mainly in the lamina propria of jejunum and ileum and the gametogony occurred principally in glandular cells of the intestinal tract, except in duodenum. All the endogenous stages were localized in the nucleus of the cell.

A coccidium was isolated from mule duck farms, the sporulated oocysts of which most closely resemble that of Isospora anseris, a goose coccidium. By experimental infection, these oocysts were proved to be able to develop in the goose and in several duck species, but unable to develop in the chicken. No pathogenicity was noted in any species.

The authors isolated 2 Isospora species from ducks: Isospora mandari and Isospora sp. This was the first report of the genus Isospora from the duck in France. One of the 2 isolated species (Isospora sp) has not been described in the duck before.

Coccidia of mule ducks: preliminary survey in three farms of the south-west region of France A coprological survey carried out on mule duck farms, has revealed seven different coccidian species: Cryptosporidium (1), Tyzzeria (2) and Eimeria (4). Tyzzeria was the most frequent. The four Eimeria species have never been previously noted in France and one of them could be a new species.