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Coccidiosis is a contagious disease of goats, especially young kids, throughout the world.
The disease is caused by one or more of approximately 12 different species of protozoa, called Eimeria, which parasitize and destroy cells lining the intestinal tract of the goat. Sheep are also very susceptible to coccidiosis, but even though the sheep forms may share the same names with goat coccidia, many parasitologists believe that the disease cannot be spread from goats to sheep or from sheep to goats. An infected goat sheds thousands of microscopic coccidial oocysts in its feces every day. When first passed, the oocysts are harmless to another goat. If a young kid swallows the sporulated oocyst, the sporozoites are released and rapidly penetrate the intestinal cells.