EXTERNAL PHASE (grass, feed or water contaminated with feces)

After sporulation, the oocyst is able to withstand commercial cleansers and

disinfectants
and can survive and remain in the environment for years.

Step 1
The sporulated oocyst is a mature egg containing 4 sporocysts, each with 2
sporozoites.

SUBCLINICAL PHASE (small intestine)
Subclinical coccidial infections damage the villi of the small intestine and can reduce
nutrient absorption.

Step 2
After the sporulated oocyst is ingested and exposed to carbon dioxide and digestive
enzymes in the hosts digestive tract, it splits open (or excysts) and releases its 8
sporozoites.

Step 3
Each highly motile sporozoite swims or glides to the small intestine.

Step 4
3 to 7 days after ingestion, sporozoites enter the small intestine and reproduce
asexually through a budding process called schizogony (completed Day 5 through Day
10). Each sporozoite can produce up to 120,000 first-generation merozoites, which are
released when the host cell bursts.
4


Step 5
These merozoites undergo another asexual division in the lower small intestine and upper large intestine. Each
first-generation merozoite can produce 30 second-generation merozoites.
4


CLINICAL PHASE (large intestine)
Clinical signs of coccidiosis include bloody scours, blood-tinged feces, dehydration, anemia and general loss of
body condition.

Step 6
Second-generation merozoites penetrate the large intestine, differentiating themselves as either male
(microgametes) or female (macrogametes) and begin the sexual stage of the life cycle.

Step 7
A microgamete fertilizes a macrogamete to produce a zygote. The zygote forms a protective wall and becomes
an oocyst, which causes the host cells to rupture.

EXTERNAL PHASE (feces, contaminated grass, feed or water)
After sporulation, the oocyst is able to withstand commercial cleansers and disinfectants and can survive and
remain in the environment for years.

Step 8
The oocyst is passed, along with tissue and fluids from the ruptured cells, in the feces. At this stage the oocyst
is unsporulated (immature) and is not infective.

Step 9 In the presence of oxygen, the oocyst undergoes a process called sporulation. It takes 2 to 4 days for an
oocyst to become a sporulated oocyst, capable of infecting cattle. A single oocyst can produce up to 23 million
oocysts
4
during the next life cycle.