Advances in Botanical Compounds as Immunomodulatory Alternatives for Coccidiosis Control in Poultry: Progress and Perspectives

Coccidiosis is a highly pathogenic disease of poultry birds with a very high mortality rate.Poultry sector contributes a significant share of the total GDP of agricultural countries.The annual chicken meat and eggs productions have been estimated at 90 million tons and 1.1 trillion tons respectively.Coccidiosis has a significant financial effect, which is estimated to range between 2.4 to 3 billion USD per year globally.The overall prevalence of avian coccidiosis in house-reared chicks is 80% in Saudi Arabia.Avian coccidiosis poses a significant threat to this huge economic industry, with multiple etiological agents, including E. maxima, E. acervulina, E. praecox, E. mitis, E. necatrix, E. tenella, and E. brunetti.Vaccines and anticoccidial drugs are in routine use to prevent and control coccidiosis, but their efficacy is reducing because of the regular use.However, Eimeria protozoan has developed resistance to existing anticoccidial drugs.There is a dire need for the development of new drugs to overcome this issue.Botanical compounds have been proposed to have significant potent activity against Eimeria parasite.The major identified classes of the botanical compounds used against avian coccidiosis are polyphenols, flavonoids, and saponins.This review represents the mechanisms of major botanical compounds and their progress.