Occurrence of Giardia duodenalis assemblages in alpacas in the Andean region

Luis A. Gomez-Puerta, Maria T. Lopez-Urbina, Virgilio Alarcon, Vitaliano Cama, Armando E. Gonzalez, Lihua Xiao

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12 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, 352 fecal samples were analyzed for G. duodenalis from alpaca mothers and crias from three different areas of highland in Peru. The triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) gene of Giardia was amplified using a nested PCR protocol. Forty-six G. duodenalis-PCR positive samples were sequenced. G. duodenalis assemblage A was the most frequent followed by assemblage E. The former was seen in 37 animals whereas the latter was seen in nine. Most of the assemblage A infections were caused by the A1 subtype of sub-assemblage AI, except for three, which were caused by the A2 subtype of sub-assemblage AI. Assemblage A was found in all three geographic regions, while assemblage E was detected in crias from two regions. Among the four alpaca mothers positive for Giardia, three had assemblage AI and one had assemblage AII. Results of this study indicate that possible zoonotic transmission human to alpacas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)31-34
Number of pages4
JournalParasitology International
Volume63
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2014
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are indebted to Dr. Danilo Pezo (Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura, UNMSM) for your support in this study. Luis Gomez-Puerta is supported by a training grant Fogarty/NIH (grant D43TW008273 ) and the alpaca work was supported by the International Foundation for Science (IFS grant B/5225-1 ). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Keywords

  • Alpaca
  • Cria
  • Diarrhea
  • Giardia duodenalis

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