Seroprevalence to pathogenic leptospira in Peruvian alpacas and vicuñas

Abstract Micro agglutination testing was used to detect specific antibodies against five pathogenic Leptospira serovars ( icterohaemorrhagiae , pomona , canicola , wolfii and ballum ) in 793 alpaca and 195 vicuna serum samples collected in the Huancavelica and Ayacucho Departments of Peru. The study revealed that 89.6% of the alpacas and 77.4% of the vicunas were positive to one or more serovars. In alpacas, the titers varied from 1:100 to 1:1600 for reactions to icterohaemorrhagiae (43.4%) and pomona (37.8%), whereas among vicunas titers varied from 1:100 to 1:400 for reactions to the same serovarsi cterohaemorrhagiae (69.2%) and pomona (8.2%). The alpacas also had antibodies to canicola (7.8%) and wolfii (0.6%). These results show that these animals had previous exposure to 4 of the 5 serovars tested, and the elevated titers to icterohaemorrhagiae and pomona in alpacas suggest a recent infection event.