First report of Eimeria spp. (Eimeriidae) in alpaca (Lama glama) in China and phylogenetic characterization of three alpacan Eimeria species.

To investigate the prevalence, molecular characteristics and phylogenetic relationship of Eimeria spp. domestic alpaca at the Zhengzhou Zoo, Henan Province, China, sheather's sugar floatation method was conducted to detect coccidia in 25 fresh fecal samples. The overall prevalence of coccidia was 44.0 % (11/25), Eimeria alpacae Guerrero (1967), Eimeria lamae Guerrero (1967), and Eimeria punoensis Guerrero (1967) were identified by their morphological characteristics. The 18S rRNA and COI loci sequences were sequenced for molecular biological identification, homology comparison, and phylogenetic analysis of Eimeria spp. by single oocyst selection technology and multi-locus nested PCR amplification. The sequence homology among the three Eimeria spp. from alpaca at the 18S rRNA and COI gene loci were 98.8-99.4 % and 94.6-97.7 %, respectively. At the 18S rRNA and COI loci, the three Eimeria spp. exhibited high identity with Eimeria spp. from goats and sheep. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the molecular identification and evolutionary analysis of three Eimeria spp. from alpaca. This study also provides a more accurate identification method for Eimeria spp. from alpaca.