While no effective treatment exists, the rate of infection can be reduced via prophylactics, anticoccidial drugs and vaccination of baby chicks.

The chicken ingests the sporozoite where it is stripped of its oocyst wall by abrasion in the gizzard and breakdown in the lumen of the small intestine.

The sporozoite then migrates to its preferred site of development (the caeca in the case of Eimeria tenella) and invades the villus enterocyte.

The beginning of complex life cycle of Eimeria tenella may be taken to be initiated by infection of epithelial cells of host cecum by sporozoites.

When their oocysts are swallowed by a new or healthy bird, its gizzard and digestive juices dissolve the cystwall and release sporozoites which enter the host epithelial cells.

Cytoplasm includes a vesicular nucleus, a mitochondrion, golgi bodies, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, lysosomes and vacuoles containing reserve food, etc.