SEROPREVALENCE OF Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum AND Sarcocystis sp. IN LLAMAS (Lama glama ) FROM JUJUY, ARGENTINA

MORÉ G.; VENTURINI M.C.; BASSO W.; MARÍN R.; BACIGALUPE D.; AUAD G.; VENTURINI L.

Palerom. Italia

Congreso; Toxo & Food 2006; 2006

  Introduction Llamas (Lama glama) are South American camelids described as intermediate hosts for Toxoplasma gondii (2,5), Neospora caninum (1,5) and Sarcocystis aucheniae (3). In Argentina llamas are bred mainly in the north part of the country.  Llama meat is one of the most important sources of proteins especially in small rural communities that live 2000 m above sea level, and it is also commercialized in the central market in San Salvador de Jujuy and served in restaurants. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondi, N. caninum and Sarcocystis sp in llamas from Jujuy, Argentina.   Material and methods Serum sampling: 98 llamas (>2 years-old) were sampled in October 2005 at the 2nd Andes Llamas Market, in San Salvador de Jujuy. They belong to 41 farmers from 21 rural communities located in 6 departmental areas of the Puna Area. Serology Presence of antibodies to N. caninum and T. gondii was determined by the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) using cell culture derived tachyzoites of NC-1 and RH isolates respectively and anti-llama IgG fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate (VMRD, Pullman, USA). For preparation of S. cruzi antigen, bradyzoites were obtained from bovine cardiac muscle by digestion with the technique of Lunde and Fayer modified (4). Briefly, 100 g of minced cardiac muscle was mixed with 400 ml of digestion solution (pepsin -0, 7 U-FIP/mg- 2, 5 g and HCl 10 ml in 1 l of water solution) and put in a magnetic stirrer for 20 minutes at 37º C. The suspension was filtered trough sieves of 300, 150 and 53 µm into 50 ml centrifuge tubes and centrifuged at 500 g during 5 minutes. The pellet was washed with phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and diluted to a final concentration of 4 million bradyzoites/ml.  Bradyzoites were fixed in IFAT slides and conserved at -20ºC. Sera were tested at 1:25 and 1:200 dilutions.   Results Presence of antibodies for T, gondii, Sarcocystis sp and N. caninum are indicated in Table 1. Seroprevalence was 12.2 % (12/98) for T. gondii and 58% (57/98) for Sarcocystis sp. Sarcocystis sp and T. gondii co-infection status of the tested animals is shown in table 2. Antibodies for N. caninum were not detected.                       Table 1: Detection of antibodies for T.gondii, Sarcocystis sp. and Neospora caninum by IFAT in llamas   IFAT Titer <25 25 200 T. gondii Sarcocystis sp. N. caninum 86 41 98 12 53  0 0 4 0   Table 2:  Sarcocystis sp and T. gondii co-infection in llamas detected by IFAT   T. gondii  IFAT titers   <25 25 200 Sarcocystis sp IFAT titers <25 40 1 0 25 43 10 0 200 3 1 0     Discussion Results indicate that natural infection with T. gondii and Sarcocystis sp occurs in llamas in northern Argentina. N. caninum infection, although frequent in cattle in other areas of the country, was not demonstrated in the present study. This could be related to climate and geographical conditions of the study area that limit cattle breeding activity, reducing the sources of infection for definitive hosts. In the present study, co-infection with both T. gondii and Sarcocystis sp was detected, but all sera were negative to N. caninum antibodies, excluding the occurrence of cross reaction between N. caninum and other related Apicomplexa, as suggested in previous studies in llamas (1). Serological study for Sarcocystis sp. was performed using bradyzoites of S.cruzi, because cross-reaction among Sarcocystis species has been demonstrated.  Presence of Sarcocystis aucheniae macrocysts in carcasses causes economical losses due to meat condemnation. Evaluation of the risk derived of consumption of llama meat should be completed with parasitological studies in meat and by testing a greater number of animals.