The effects of essential oils in Cryptotop on coccidia

By Jolan Lemmens

Calf coccidiosis is a common health issue in calves from around 3 weeks old until 1 year of age. The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the Eimeria genus. The disease is transmitted through oocysts that are found in the feces of the animals. If you want to know more about calf coccidiosis you can read our blog by clicking here. Resco created a complementary feed against coccidia in newborn calves in the form of 2 small boluses. With a growing demand for natural alternatives to traditional solutions, Resco created the boluses filled with essential oils. We will outline the effects of some of these oils in what follows.

Natural feed supplements such as essential oils are becoming more popular as alternatives in animal production. In the first place because the general public is demanding a greener supply chain, but also because of the limitations of traditional solutions such as bacterial resistance. Essential oils are very complex structures (in comparison to the usual single synthetic compounds) and it is this complexity that makes resistance to be less likely to occur. More and more research is showing the positive effect of essential oils on blood circulation, bacteria counts, digestion, stress, and other conditions in animal production.

The natural ingredients in Cryptotop

In line with the growing attention for safe and efficient alternatives, Resco is creating a range of phytotherapeutic boluses. Cryptotop contains (amongst others) essential oils from clove, cinnamon, and eucalyptus and extracts from garlic. In recent years more in vivo research is done on the effect of essential oils and plant extracts on coccidiosis in animals ranging from mice to cattle. Because of ethical reasons, however, very few studies are done on cattle.

Garlic – Allicin

Garlic is known to have many benefits, including its antimicrobial activity. Moreover, garlic has been also reported effective against diverse parasites like Eimeria. A study on mice showed that the number of oocysts found in feces decreased by more than 40%, that garlic has an anti-inflammatory effect and that it has protective effects on the animal. Similar results were found in studies on broiler chickens and rabbits.

Clove – Eugenol

A 2021 Ukrainian (in vitro) study looked at the effect of 14 different essential oils on coccidiosis and found that Eugenol caused mortality of more than half of the partially sporulated oocyst after 72 hours of being exposed to the essential oil. A similar study in Morocco also concluded that clove oil is one of the most efficacious essential oils to decrease the number of oocysts, even at very low concentrations. Furthermore, three hours of contact with the oil was enough to reduce the number of oocysts by 70%. Lastly, they concluded that the most powerful essential oils reduced the number of oocysts more than two anticoccidial agents. Research on adult sheep confirmed this conclusion.

Cinnamon – Cinnamaldehyde

The Ukrainian study we mentioned under the paragraph of eugenol found an even better result of cinnamaldehyde on coccidiosis. The essential oils of cinnamon caused death to 100% of the oocysts of Eimeria Magna after 72 hours of exposure. A study with 84 Holstein dairy heifers showed that coccidia count per 150 g of feces reduced from 373 on week 4 to 12 on week 10.

Eucalyptus – Eucalyptol

Eucalyptol is another essential oil that supports the growing interest in natural alternatives. Eucalyptol reduces the number of oocysts in the intestines and helps improve production. A study of the effect of a mixture of essential oils including eucalyptol on 10 calves concludes that these herbs almost entirely prevented coccidial infection.

Coxitop study

A study was done on 18 calves to check the effect of Coxitop on the amounts of oocysts in feces, in comparison to the effect of two known coccidiostats. 9 calves received Cryptotop and 9 calves received the two coccidiostats. Results show that the calves that received the boluses control the disease as well as the calves that received the traditional coccidiostats. Furthermore, the group of calves that received Coxitop gained on average 30 grams per day more than the control group.

Sources

Ali, M., Chand, N., Khan, R. U., Naz, S., & Gul, S. (2019). Anticoccidial effect of garlic (Allium sativum) and ginger (Zingiber officinale) against experimentally induced coccidiosis in broiler chickens. Journal of Applied Animal Research, 47(1), 79–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/09712119.2019.1573731

Barbour, E., Bragg, R., Karrouf, G., Iyer, A., Azhar, E., Harakeh, S., & Kumosani, T. (2015). Control of eight predominant Eimeria spp. involved in economic coccidiosis of broiler chicken by a chemically characterized essential oil. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 118(3), 583–591. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.12731

Boyko, O., Shendryk, L., Shaban, O., & Brygadyrenko, V. (2021). Influence of essential oils on sporulation of eimeria magna oocysts. Annals of Parasitology, 67(1), 11–17. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351249627_Influence_of_essential_oils_on_sporulation_of_Eimeria_magna_oocysts

Chapman, C., Chester-Jones, H., Ziegler, D., Clapper, J., & Erickson, P. (2017). Effects of cinnamaldehyde or monensin on performance of weaned Holstein dairy heifers. Journal of Dairy Science, 100(3), 1712–1719. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2016-11893

Dkhil, M., Abdel-Baki, A., Wunderlich, F., Sies, H., & Al-Quraishy, S. (2011). Anticoccidial and antiinflammatory activity of garlic in murine Eimeria papillata infections. Veterinary Parasitology, 175(1–2), 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.09.009

Idris, M., Abbas, R., Masood, S., Rehman, T., Farooq, U., Babar, W., Hussain, R., Raza, A., & Riaz, U. (2017). The potential of antioxidant rich essential oils against avian coccidiosis. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 73(1), 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0043933916000787

Indrasanti, D., Indradji, M., Hastuti, S., Aprilliyani, E., Fatikha, F., & Rosyadi, K. (2017). The Administration of Garlic Extract on Eimeria stiedai Oocysts and the Hematological Profile of the Coccidia Infected Rabbits. Media Peternakan, 40(3), 158–164. https://doi.org/10.5398/medpet.2017.40.3.158

Remmal, A., Achahbar, S., Bouddine, L., Chami, N., & Chami, F. (2011). In vitro destruction of Eimeria oocysts by essential oils. Veterinary Parasitology, 182(2–4), 121–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.06.002

Simitzis, P. E. (2017). Enrichment of Animal Diets with Essential Oils—A Great Perspective on Improving Animal Performance and Quality Characteristics of the Derived Products. Medicines, 4(2), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines4020035

Tagaki, M. (2006). The anticoccidial efficacy of natural herb extracts in calves. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 5(12), 1096–1100. https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=DJ2012071718

Wunderlich, F., Al-Quraishy, S., Steinbrenner, H., Sies, H., & Dkhil, M. A. (2014). Towards identifying novel anti-Eimeria agents: trace elements, vitamins, and plant-based natural products. Parasitology Research, 113(10), 3547–3556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4101-8