Eimeria dispersa and Eimeria gallopavonis : Infectivity, Survival, and Development in Primary Chicken and Turkey Kidney Cell Cultures

SYNOPSIS.Eimeria dispersa (turkey strain) and Eimeria gallopavonis sporozoites were inoculated into primary cultures of chicken kidney (CK) and turkey kidney (TK) cells. Eimeria dispersa sporozoites were more infective in either cell type than those of E. gallopavonis : at 4 hr, the percentage of infection was 67‐98 for E. dispersa but only 23‐56 for E. gallopavonis . E. dispersa also survived better in culture: at 2 days, losses of E. dispersa in both cell types were only 4‐19%, whereas losses of E. gallopavonis were 35‐47% in TK cells and 60–95% in CK cells. However, E. gallopavonis developed further than E. dispersa . Location and increase in numbers of intracellular stages at 4 days indicated that E. dispersa proceeded through 2 schizogonic generations before development stopped.