Objective The study was carried out to understand the infection of rabbit coccidiosis and the species of coccidia, which provided a basis for the prevention and control of rabbit coccidiosis in western Chongqing.

Method A total of 1273 samples from 14 rabbit farms in 8 regions (including Rongchang, Yongchuan, Dazu etc.) in western Chongqing were examined by using the flotation technique with saturated salt solution and McMaster's method, and the oocysts were collected to identify the species of coccidia

Result There were coccidia infections in all the 14 rabbit farms, in which the mean infection rate was 90.65%, and both the highest infection rates in Bishan and Jiangjin regions were 100%. The infection rate of rabbits less than 2 months of age was significantly higher than that of rabbits at other ages including 2-4 months, 4-9 months and more than 9 months, with an infection rate of 98.19%. The infection rate of rabbit coccidia in small-scale farms was significantly lower than that in large-scale farms, with an infection rate of 86.53%. The number of oocysts per gram (OPG) of the eight regions ranged from 9.65×10³ to 6.56×10⁴, and the highest OPG of rabbits at age of 2-4 months was 6.31×10⁴. According to a survey on the medicine use situation, the infection rate and OPG of farms without taking coccidial drugs were 92.31% and 4.42×10⁴, while the infection rate and OPG of farms taking coccidial drugs were 89.19% and was 2.75×10⁴. In total, 10 species of Eimeria were identified in 14 rabbit farms and the dominant species were E. perforans, E. magna, E. coecicola and E. media with detection rates of 25.20%, 23.38%, 11.96% and 10.02%, respectively.

Conclusion Coccidia infection in rabbits is common in western Chongqing, most of which are mixed infections. Therefore, the prevention and control of rabbit coccidiosis should be strengthened in this area.