Coccidia of the llama, Lama glama, in Colorado and Wyoming

Llamas and alpacas in Europe: Endoparasites of the digestive tract and their pharmacotherapeutic control

“…are the most common protozoan parasites in SACs (Jarvinen, 1999;Schock et al, 2007;Ballweber, 2009;Fowler, 2010;Twomey et al, 2010). Six (presumably host-specific) species have been described, namely, E. ivitaensis, E. punoensis, E. lamae, E. alpacae, E. macusaniensis and E. peruviana (Schrey et al, 1991;Palacios et al, 2006;Rohbeck, 2006;Ballweber, 2009;Fowler, 2010). Each species differs with regard to morphology, pathogenicity, prepatent period and prevalence (Guerrero et al, 1971;Foreyt and Lagerquist, 1992;Whitehead and Anderson, 2006).…”

“…clinical signs are often evident before oocysts can be detected in the faeces (Cebra et al, 2007;Johnson et al, 2009;Rosadio et al, 2010). Clinical signs in animals with coccidiosis include colic, diarrhoea, weight loss, decreased appetite, weakness and even sudden death (Schrey et al, 1991; Lenghaus et al, 2004;Palacios et al, 2006;Cafrune et al, 2009;Johnson et al, 2009). E. macusaniensis alone or associated with E. lamae or E. ivitaenis is regarded as highly pathogenic (Cafrune et al, 2009).…”

Atypical Coccidiosis in South American Camelids

“…In contrast, anorexia of a few days duration, 16 diarrhea, 12,15 and sudden death 10,15 have been reported as presenting clinical signs with coccidiosis in South American camelids. Whereas the second case had acute diarrhea before death, the first case never developed diarrhea.…”

“…13 However, oocysts detection is dependent on detection technique, 3,5,8,16 and the output of oocysts can decline rapidly in acute infections resulting in clinically affected animals having low oocyst counts. 13 Hence, fecal examination may not always aid in diagnosis.…”

“…Fecal sedimentation to detect oocyst of E. macusaniensis has been recommended because of their large size and higher specific gravity. 7,16 The fecal flotation technique used for the 2 cases reported here was a saturated sucrose solution with a specific gravity of 1.27. Hence, the technique should have detected oocysts in feces of the described cases.…”