Protozoa of the genus Eimeria are the etiologic agents of avian coccidiosis, the most economically important Parasitic disease for the poultry industry. Coccidia multiply in intestinal epithelial cells of a wide range of hosts, including livestock in addition to poultry. Chemotherapy is extensively used to control coccidiosis. However, development of drug resistance by Eimeria parasites, the intensive cost and labor involved in the identification of new anticoccidial compounds and public awareness of drug residues in foods warrant alternative methods to prevent coccidiocic in the fast growing poultry industry. For these reasons, there is a great interest in developing vaccines against avian coccidiosis. Live Eimeria vaccines confer protective immunity, however a significant disadvantage of using these types of vaccines is their pathogenicity. Live parasites with attenuated pathogenicity also usually produce immunity but may revert back to a pathogenic form and may be contaminated with other pathogenic organisms. Killed Eimeria vaccines are safer but, unlike live attenuated vaccines, are not able to generate cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses. Recombinant vaccines are biochemically purified proteins produced by genetic engineering that consist of particular epitopes or metabolites of Eimeria. Unlike live attenuated organisms, recombinant vaccines do not possess as much risk and generally are able to induce both humoral and cell mediated immunity. DNA vaccines consist of genes encoding immunogenic proteins of pathogens that are directly administered into the host in a manner that the gene is expressed and the resulting protein generates a protective immune response. Although all of these different types of vaccines have been applied to coccidiosis, this disease continues to cause substantial morbidity and mortality in the poultry industry. Future development of an effective vaccine against coccidiosis will depend on further investigation of protective immunity to Eimeria infection and identification of important immundgenic parasite molecules.
