Increased numbers of eosinophils are found in parasitic infections, autoimmune diseases and allergic diseases such as allergic asthma. They are activated by distinct cytokines and chemokines leading to the immigration in the inflamed tissue and mediate tissue damage by releasing reactive oxygen species. Here, the effect of the recently cloned CC chemokine human eotaxin was investigated for its ability to affect different eosinophil effector functions and compared to the CC chemokines MCP‐3 and RANTES. Human eotaxin induced chemotaxis of human eosinophils in a dose‐dependent manner. The range of efficacy of the CC chemokines compared to the well‐known chemotaxin C5a was eotaxin = RANTES > MCP‐3 = C5a. In addition, eotaxin induced rapid and transient actin polymerization, a prerequisite for cell migration, in eosinophils in the same range of efficacy as observed for chemotaxis. To investigate whether eotaxin was able to activate the respiratory burst of eosinophils, release of reactive oxygen species was measured by lucigenin‐dependent chemiluminescence. Eotaxin induced production of significantly high amounts of reactive oxygen species at a concentration between 10 ng/ml and 500 ng/ml. Surprisingly, the effect of eotaxin was comparable to the well‐known eosinophil activator C5a. The range of efficacy of the CC chemokines compared to C5a in the activation of the respiratory burst was eotaxin = C5a > MCP‐3 > RANTES. Production of reactive oxygen species was inhibited by pertussis toxin, staurosporin, genestein and wortmannin. Furthermore, eotaxin induced transient increases in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]i) in human eosinophils. Therefore, pertussis toxinsensitive Gi‐proteins, protein kinase C, tyrosine kinase, phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase and transient increases in [Ca²⁺]i are involved in the signal transduction of eosinophils following stimulation with eotaxin. In summary, this study reveals the importance of the CC chemokine eotaxin as a potent activator of the respiratory burst, actin polymerization and chemotaxis. Eotaxin, therefore, plays an important role not only by attracting eosinophils to the site of inflammation but also by damaging tissue by its capacity to induce the release of reactive oxygen species.