Gastrointestinal parasite diversity of South American camelids (Artiodactyla: Camelidae): First review throughout the native range of distribution

BELTRAME M. ORNELA; CAÑAL VICTORIA

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

Elsevier

Año: 2022 vol. 19 p. 222 - 242

2213-2244

In South America inhabit an endemic group of ungulates adapted to extreme environments: the South Americancamelids (SAC), a key component of the Andean biocultural heritage. Until today, SAC are the most importantfactor of Andean economies and social and ritual life. SAC include two wild species, the guanaco (Lama guanicoe)and the vicu˜na (Vicugna vicugna), and two domestic species, the llama (Lama glama) and the alpaca (Vicugnapacos). Endoparasitosis are one of the most common diseases in SAC, and have great economic and healthrelevance. Despite this, there is a lack of knowledge on this concern. The main objective of this work was toconduct the first systematic review of the diversity of gastrointestinal parasites of SAC throughout the entirenative range of distribution and to identify several gaps in knowledge. The PRISMA protocol was performed anda total of 101 documents were summarized. At least 36 parasitic helminths and five Eimeria spp. were registered.This work highlights the need for a greater number of works to know with more certainty the parasitic fauna ofcamelids in the past and present, in order to achieve predictions that allow proper management of camelids fortheir future conservation. Furthermore, concerted research efforts are needed to understand the biology,epidemiology, diagnosis and distribution of the parasitosis of SAC along the entire distribution range to guideconservation decisions.