Nemabiome metabarcoding shows a high prevalence of Haemonchus contortus and predominance of Camelostrongylus mentulatus in alpaca herds in the northern UK

Abstract

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) are a common threat faced by pastoral livestock. Since their major introduction to the UK in the early 1990s, South American camelids have been co-grazed with sheep, horses, and other livestock, allowing exposure to a range of GIN species. However, there have been no molecular-based studies to investigate the GIN populations present in these camelids. In the current study, we sampled nine alpaca herds from northern England and southern Scotland and used high-throughput metabarcoded sequencing to study the GIN species. A total of eight known GIN species were found, and 71 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were identified. Haemonchus contortus was the most prevalent species found in almost all herds in significant proportions. The identification of H. contortus in other livestock species is unusual in the area, implying that alpacas may be suitable hosts and potential reservoirs for infection in other hosts. In addition, the camelid-adapted GIN species Camelostrongylus mentulatus was identified predominantly on farms with higher faecal egg counts. These findings highlight the importance of applying advanced molecular methods, such as nemabiome metabarcoding to describe the dynamics of gastrointestinal nematode infections in novel situations. The results provide a strong base for further studies involving co-grazing animals to confirm the potential role of alpacas in transmitting GIN species between hosts.