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We aim to describe the parasitic population in vicuñas from three Andean communities and its relationship with fiber quality using 115 fecal and 22 fiber samples, classified according to sex, age, body condition score, and management system. Coproparasitologic diagnostic revealed that 84.4% of animals presented at least one type of parasite egg/oocyst. Most frequent parasite egg/oocyst were Strongyle-type eggs (54.8%) and Eimeria punoensis (38.3%). Wild vicuñas had a higher prevalence of Strongyle-type eggs (91.4%) than semi-captive (38.8%) animals, and age was significative to Eimeria infection; crias had the highest frequency (100%) when compared to yearlings (84.2%) and adults (49.4%). Larvae identification revealed a strong influence of domestic animals on vicuña parasite community, presenting the first report of Bunostomum phlebotomum and Gaigeria pachyscelis in vicuñas from southeastern Peru. Females had a significantly finer diameter of fiber (13.05 ± 0.73 μm) than males (14.22 ± 1.22 μm), and infection with Eimeria spp. affected negatively fiber diameter and resistance. Our results provide data for disease surveillance and encourage further parasitological studies in vicuñas.

Interspecies transmission is an important mechanism of evolution and contributes to rotavirus A (RVA) diversity. In order to evaluate the detection frequency, genetic diversity, epidemiological characteristics and zoonotic potential of RVA strains in faecal specimens from humans and animals cohabiting in the same environment in the department of Cusco, Peru, by molecular analysis, 265 faecal specimens were obtained from alpacas, llamas, sheep and shepherd children, and tested for RVA by RT-PCR. Genotyping was performed by multiplex PCR and sequence analysis. Rotavirus A was detected in 20.3% of alpaca, 47.5% of llama, 100% of sheep and 33.3% of human samples. The most common genetic constellations were G3-P[40]-I8-E3-H6 in alpacas, G1/G3-P[8]-I1-E1-H1 in llamas, G1/G3/G35-P[1]/P[8]-I1-E1-H1 in sheep and G3-P[40]-I1/I8-E3-H1 in humans. The newly described genotypes P[40] and P[50] were identified in all host species, including humans. Genotyping showed that the majority of samples presented coinfection with two or more RVA strains. These data demonstrate the great genetic diversity of RVA in animals and humans in Cusco, Peru. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the strains represent zoonotic transmission among the species studied. Due to the characteristics of the human and animal populations in this study (cohabitation of different host species in conditions of poor sanitation and hygiene), the occurrence of zoonoses is a real possibility., (© 2019 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)