The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
coccidium \coccidium\ n.; pl. coccidia. (Microbiol.) any sporozoan of the order Coccidia, parasitic on the digestive epithelium of vertebrates and higher invertebrates. It is the causative agent of coccidiosis, which can be a problem in poultry rearing. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Coccidia n 1: an order in the subclass Telosporidia [syn: Coccidia, order Coccidia]