Two centrifugal flotation techniques for counting gastrointestinal parasite eggs and oocysts in alpaca faeces

Abstract

Introduction The alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a camelid native to South America, but the species has wide distribution outside its natural habitat and is found in various countries on other continents, Poland being one in Europe. Parasitic infections affect the productivity and health of alpacas. The aim of the study was to estimate the parasite loads in alpacas kept in Poland with the use of two direct centrifugal flotation methods. Material and Methods A total of 248 faecal samples from alpacas from 12 provinces in Poland were examined for parasite eggs and oocysts with a modified Willis method (WM), and 59 samples were examined simultaneously with WM and a modified Stoll method (SM). Results The WM detected eggs of Trichostrongylidae, and the SM oocysts of Eimeria spp. as the respective most prevalent parasite material. The eggs of Nematodirus sp., Nematodirus battus, Aonchotheca sp., and Trichuris sp. were detected in lower numbers in both methods. Oocysts of E. macusaniensis and eggs of Moniezia sp. were the rarest in WM, the former also being so in SM; eggs of Moniezia were absent in SM. The prevalence of Eimeria spp. was significantly higher as detected by SM than as detected by WM; however, the prevalence of eggs of Nematodirus spp. and trichostrongyles was significantly higher as detected by WM than as detected by SM. Conclusion WM is more accurate at detecting heavy gastro-intestinal nematode eggs, including those of trichostrongyles and Nematodirus, whereas SM is more accurate at detecting smaller coccidia from the genus Eimeria.

First molecular identification of Haemonchus contortus (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae), a blood‐sucking gastric nematode of artiodactyles, in the ground beetle Carabus granulatus (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

“…Moreover, Haemonchus sp. Cobb (order Strongylidae; family Trichostrongylidae) infection also was noted in members of the Artiodactyla order and Cervidae family inhabiting Polish forests, including roe deer Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, fallow deer Dama dama Linnaeus, red deer Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, and moose Alces alces Linnaeus (Filip & Demiaszkiewicz, 2016; Pyziel‐Serafin et al, 2023). A previous study revealed high within‐population variations among different populations of H. contortus (Yin et al, 2013).…”