A bivalent vaccine of Eimeria media and Eimeria intestinalis yields protective immunity against coccidiosis during rabbit production

¹ Department of Animal Sciences, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
² Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: pennyhumaidahhamid@staff.uns.ac.id

Abstract

Coccidiosis is the costliest disease in the rabbit industry. The kits do not obtain maternal immunity against the diseases and therefore suckling to weaning period being the riskiest time of infection. To date, control of coccidiosis is relied on the use of chemical coccidiostat as a drug or as the substance in feed. Whilst, continuous exposure to antibiotics develops resistance and contamination in the carcass. There is no commercially provided vaccine to prevent rabbit coccidiosis cases. In this report, we processed precocious lines from the strain of Yogyakarta origin by using selection pressure to attenuate Eimeria spp. The vaccine candidate composed of 50% of each Eimeria media and Eimeria intestinalis were given orally to initiate protective immunity against rabbit coccidiosis. The vaccinated groups with 5 x 10² oocyst dosage exhibited 95% less total oocyst excretion compared to the non-vaccinated group. Our experiment showed no mortality and without any significantly detrimental response of vaccinated rabbits during the observation time (P<0.0001). Since the oocysts in the vaccinated rabbits are excreted in dropped faecal samples, it provides recirculation and provokes a group immunity within the flock. A vaccine candidate is a promising tool as a more environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable rabbit production.