Toxoplasmosis as a cause of abortion in alpacas

© 2009 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. All rights reserved. The objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between T. gondii with the occurrence of abortions en the first, second and third trimester of gestation, as well as the association with perinatal mortality. The study was conducted at the Research and Development Centre of South American Camelides, Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, located at 4450 masl in Lachocc, from January 1999 till March 2000, through the monitoring of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii using the Indirect Haemagglutination Test (IHA). The initial seroprevalence of T. gondii was 36.5% (121/ 332). The follow-up of 108 seronegative animals to evaluate serconversion resulted in an accumulate incidence of 25% (27/108) at 270 days after breeding. Fertility rate was 70.4% (76/108), and among them, 27.6% (21/76) were infected by T. gondii whereas 72.4% did not seroconverted; however, there was not statistical difference in fertility between positive and negative animals to T. gondii. Abortion rates for the periods 90-80, 181-270, and 271-330 days of gestation were 6.6, 5.6, and 7.6% respectively, and the perinatal mortality was 8.1% and without statistical difference using the Fisher Test between positive and negative animals to T. gondii. Additionally, prime infection by T. gondii in female alpacas showed to be independent of age, but the risk factor indicated that the probability to get an abortion among seropositive female alpacas was 3.3 higher than in seronegative ones.