Seroimmunological and parasitological surveys of leucocytozoon caulleryi infection in chickens in several asian countries

Epizootiological surveys of Leucocytozoon caulleryi infection in chickens in Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were undertaken by means of the immunodiffusion test. The rate of infection of L. caulleryi confirmed by the examination of parasites in the peripheral blood of chickens coincided with that of positive antibody response in the immunodiffusion test. Antibodies against L. caulleryi were found in chickens in all the countries surveyed in the present investigation. The prevalence of L. caulleryi infection in chickens was confirmed by the immunodiffusion test. Several chickens in each country showed the presence of serum antigens of L. caulleryi at the times of serum sample collection. These results seemed to indicate that the immunodiffusion test is a method efficient enough to be applicable to the epizootiological surveys and diagnosis of L. caulleryi infection in chickens in the field. As a result, the antibodies or soluble antigens in the sera of chickens infected with L. caulleryi present, respectively, in each country may have the same immunological characters.