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First report of Eimeria and Entamoeba infection in alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in Shanxi Province, northern China

  • Genetics, Evolution, and Phylogeny - Original Paper
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Abstract

Intestinal protozoa Eimeria and Entamoeba can infect many animal species including alpacas. However, data on the prevalence and pathogenicity of species of the two genera Eimeria and Entamoeba in alpacas in China is scarce. The current study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of Eimeria and Entamoeba in alpacas in two cities (Taiyuan and Xinzhou) in Shanxi Province, northern China, using PCR-based approaches. Eimeria spp. were only found in Taiyuan city, and the overall prevalence was 1.64%. All samples collected from male alpacas were PCR-negative for Eimeria. Four Eimeria-positive samples were tested positive as Eimeria lamae. The molecular prevalence of Entamoeba in alpacas was 18.03% (66/366), including 16.39% (50/305) in alpacas from Taiyuan city and 26.23% (16/61) from Xinzhou city, respectively. The Entamoeba prevalence in male alpacas (25.00%) was significantly higher than that in female alpacas (15.69%). Entamoeba bovis was the predominant species, and no Entamoeba histolytica infection was detected. Nine unique SSU rRNA gene sequences of Entamoeba were obtained which formed a new cluster. The results showed that sex and location might be the risk factors associated with prevalence of Eimeria spp., and sex might be the risk factor associated with prevalence of Entamoeba spp.. This is the first report of Entamoeba in alpacas worldwide. These findings expand our understanding of the prevalence and genetic diversity of Eimeria and Entamoeba in alpacas.

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Funding

Project support was provided, in part, by the Program for the Science and Technology Innovation of Shanxi Agricultural University (Grant No. 2017YJ10); the Open Funds of the State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Grant No. SKLVEB2018KFKT015); the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP) (Grant No. CAAS-ASTIP-2016-LVRI-03); and Yunnan Expert Workstation (Grant No. 202005AF150041).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi Province, 030801, People’s Republic of China

    Wen-Wei Gao, Ye-Ting Ma, Run-Li Li, Jin Li, Fu-Guo Zheng, Wen-Bin Zheng, Qing Liu & Xing-Quan Zhu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People’s Republic of China

    Ye-Ting Ma, Yuan-Yuan Ma & Xing-Quan Zhu

  3. Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health of Higher Education of Yunnan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650201, People’s Republic of China

    Xing-Quan Zhu

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  1. Wen-Wei Gao
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  2. Ye-Ting Ma
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  3. Yuan-Yuan Ma
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  4. Run-Li Li
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  5. Jin Li
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  7. Wen-Bin Zheng
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  8. Qing Liu
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  9. Xing-Quan Zhu
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Correspondence to Xing-Quan Zhu.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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Gao, WW., Ma, YT., Ma, YY. et al. First report of Eimeria and Entamoeba infection in alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in Shanxi Province, northern China. Parasitol Res 120, 2031–2035 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07157-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07157-0

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