Insight into poultry coccidiosis: a dual focus on anticoccidial drugs and herbal plants for pharmacological and prevention strategies.

Coccidiosis is an enteric protozoan parasitic disease that results in significant economic losses due to high mortality and morbidity, particularly in poultry farms run on a deep litter system, as well as the costs associated with its treatment and control. From time to time, several approaches have been adopted for its prevention and control, among which current approaches include the use of anticoccidial drugs, herbal plants, and vaccines. Anticoccidial drugs work well to stop coccidiosis, but their use is limited because some Eimeria strains are becoming partially or completely resistant to them. As a result, new anticoccidial drugs are urgently needed that will take years to commercialize, and there is an increasing demand for drug-free poultry meat. Safe alternatives are herbal plants and their mixtures like Natustat^®, Cocciban^®, Herbacox^®, Coxynil^®, Peptasan^®, of which many have been evaluated. Moreover, various essential oils and oocyst-based vaccines are available to control the disease. A few vaccines have even been commercialized, like Immunocox, Paracox, Livacox, Coocivac, etc. As a result, the emphasis should now be on peptide, plant-based, and transgenic vaccines. This review provides a thorough examination of the anticoccidial activities exhibited by various interventions, including commercial drugs, herbal mixtures, probiotics, nanoparticles, essential oils, and vaccines, in the context of coccidiosis. Additionally, the review sheds light on the comparative effectiveness of these interventions as opposed to conventional drugs commonly employed to manage diseases in poultry.