Characterization of pneumonia and pneumonic bacteria in alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in high Andean communities of Huancavelica, Peru

Pneumonic pathologies are clinically important in alpaca breeding; however, there is little information about pneumonic types and bacterial causes. The objective is to characterize pneumonias and bacteria causing pneumonias in neonates of dead alpacas in high Andean communities of Huancavelica, Peru. We sampled 365 dead alpaca pups under 45 days of age, from 10 communities, 216 of them were taken tracheal swabs for microbiological studies with peptone buffer because they were cases of pneumonia. Macroscopic identification of pneumonias was done by photodocumentation test. Pasteurella multocida, Mannheimia haemolytica were grown on Colombia agar enriched with alpaca blood; Streptococcus pneumoniae on Brain Heart Infusion agar supplemented with alpaca blood and identified by morphological and microscopic characterization, biochemical reactions and optokine. It was found 59.8% of mortality due to pneumonia and 40.2% by other causes, characterizing pneumonia by inflammation 55.1%, 44.9% by lesion and subtypes: Exudative 9.5%, Suppurative 3.8%, Proliferative 42.3%, Lobar 17.8%, Interstitial 26.6%, isolating strains Streptococcus pneumoniae 43.7%, Mannheimia haemolytica 14.9%, Pasteurella multocida 20.9%, predominant associates Streptococcus pneumoniae-Pasteurella multocida 10.7%. High frequency of types and subtypes of pneumonia associated to Gram (+) bacteria were observed as causal of pneumonia in alpaca pups, with predominance in three high Andean communities of Huancavelica, Peru.