Eimeria apsheronica in the goat: endogenous development and host cellular response

Most first generation schizonts of Eimeria apsheronica developed in the jejunum; others were distributed throughout the small intestine and occasionally in the caecum. Some were also found in the mesenteric lymph nodes, which were oedematous and haemorrhagic. In the intestine, haemorrhage and congestion were seen before parasites were detected, and continued throughout all later stages. Schizonts occurred in the lamina propria and occasionally in the submucosa, where they sometimes caused a cellular inflammatory response. Schizonts were first seen at 8 days post-infection (DPI); they had poorly defined nuclei and were enclosed in a capsule-like wall. At 16 DPI, many had matured, had a mean size of 125 x 82 microns, and were filled with numerous spindle-shaped merozoites, which were in ranks and loops. At 18 and 20 DPI, when small white lesions (1-3 mm in diameter) were observed in the jejunum and elsewhere in the small intestine, a second generation of schizonts, macrogametes, microgametocytes and maturing oocysts were seen, in the epithelial cells of the small intestine and caecum. Their mean sizes, respectively, were: 26.2 x 18.9, 24.7 x 18.5, 30.2 x 21.7 and 26.6 x 19.3 microns. Macrogametes contained basophilic central and eosinophilic peripheral granules. The sexual stages were associated with a generalized cellular inflammatory response.