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Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Response And Macrophage Function During Eimeria Adenoeides Infection In Turkey Poults, Amanda D. Drake, Sarah E. Heuer, Timothy G. Kimball, Timothy O. Peters, H. David Chapman, Gisela F. Erf

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Intestinal coccidiosis, caused by various species of Eimeria, is an economically important disease of chickens and turkeys. The peripheral blood leukocyte response and macrophage functions during a coccidial infection in turkeys have not been defined. To examine these aspects of innate immunity during primary Eimeria infection in turkeys, 4-week-old poults were orally inoculated with either 50,000 E. adenoeides oocyst (24 infected poults) or water (24 control poults). To monitor the concentrations and proportions of white blood cells (WBC) throughout the course of infection, heparinized blood was collected from 12 infected and 12 control poults prior to inoculation (day 0), and …