Читать книгу Parasitology - Alan Gunn - Страница 86

There are probably tens of thousands of Eimeria species and new ones are described on a regular basis. Unfortunately, there are the usual problems with taxonomy and species identification, so the literature is a bit confusing. The host range encompasses fish, lizards, and mammals, and most Eimeria species are host specific or infect a few closely related host species. Several species are of economic importance. For example, estimates for the annual worldwide losses owing to avian coccidiosis in commercially reared chickens and other birds are probably in the region of £500 million (Shirley et al. 2007). In addition, some Eimeria species play an important role in wildlife ecology although they are not easy to detect (Jarquín‐Díaz et al. 2019). By contrast, there are few reports of Eimeria infections in primates and human infections either do not occur or are exceedingly rare. We will only consider one species, Eimeria tenella as a representative example.