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Abstract Sheep and goat coccidiosis has a worldwide distribution and is an important disease on lambing farms. Infection with multiple Eimeria species can lead to severe intestinal damage in sheep/goats and economic losses on farms. Disease is a serious constraint to the healthy development of small ruminant farming. Studies published on PubMed, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang and the resulting references of selected studies were included. Risk factors affecting prevalence were analyzed and stratified by geographic location and climatic variables, age, sex, feeding model, season, sample year, breeds and environment. The total prevalence of coccidia in sheep and goats reached more than 60% in most regions, in which the dominant species in sheep were mainly E . parva , E . ovinoidalis , and E . parva and E . ahsata . East China had the lowest prevalence of coccidia infection in sheep (43.24%), and the dominant species were different from those in the other regions, mainly E . bakuensis and E . gonzalezi . Southwestern China and Central China had slightly less than 40.0% goat coccidia infection, and the dominant species in goats were mainly E . arloingi , E . aligevi , E . hirci and E . ninakohlyakimovae . Sheep/goats of different ages can be infected with coccidiosis, but lambs between 1 and 3 months of age are more susceptible to the disease. When lambs become infected, the pathogen spreads rapidly throughout the herd. Spring, summer and autumn are the seasons with a high incidence of this disease. Environmental pollution may be a significant factor in the development of coccidiosis in sheep raised in large-scale housing. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the species, morphology and geographic distribution of Eimeria species in sheep and goats, summary prevalence in different regions of China, risk factors affecting prevalence, and prevention and control strategies.
Liu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.