ABSTRACT
Eimeria leuckarti Reichenow, 1940, is the only valid species of Eimeria in equids. Two other Eimeria species, E. solipedium and E. uniungulati, had been described in a fecal survey on horses and donkeys and were also mentioned in a few other studies; however, they are considered as spurious parasites resulting from the ingestion of oocyst-contaminated feed. The only endogenous stages known are gamonts and oocysts occurring in the jejunum and more in the ileum. Horses can become immune after primary infection. In ponies reinfected with 80,000 E. leuckarti oocysts 82 days after initial dosing, the number of oocysts excreted after challenge was significantly lower than after primary infection. Foals can acquire the infection on the day of birth, probably rather from the contaminated environment than from oocysts excreted by their mares because of the long sporulation time. In vivo, an E. leuckarti infection is diagnosed by the detection of oocysts in feces.
