Table 2.
In vivo evaluation of anti-coccidial effects.
| Group | Challenge | Oral inoculation | Body weight gain | Relative body weight gain (%) | Average lesion score in cecum | Oocyst reduction ratio (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unchallenged | PBS (pH7.2) | 77.75 ± 2.46a | 100 | / | / |
| 2 | Challenged | Phages A | 64.33 ± 3.27b | 82.74 | 1.40 ± 0.34A | 47.42% |
| 3 | Challenged | Phages D | 60.08 ± 2.94b | 77.27 | 1.57 ± 0.38A | 40.78% |
| 4 | Challenged | Phages W | 56.27 ± 3.85b | 72.36 | 2.50 ± 0.46B | 8.52% |
| 5 | Challenged | PBS (pH7.2) | 46.04 ± 2.65c | 59.21 | 3.10 ± 0.40C | 0 |
21 day-old chicken was orally challenged with 1 × 104 E. tenella sporulated oocysts. At days 0, 1 and 2 post challenge, each chicken was orally inoculated with 1 × 1012 pfu target phages. Significant difference between numbers with different capital letters (P < 0.01) and small letters (P < 0.05).