Table 1.

Characteristics of selected bacterial diseases in alpacas and llamas.

Disease	Etiologic Agent	Clinical Signs	Diagnostic Methodology	Treatment	Prevention	References
Clostridial diseases Tetanus Enterotoxaemia type A Enterotoxaemia type C Enterotoxaemia type D	Clostridium tetani Clostridium perfringens Type A Clostridium perfringens Type C Clostridium perfringens Type D	No data Neurological signs, colic, intestinal gas tympany, shock, death Elevated body temperature, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, depression, cramps Sudden animal death, neurological symptoms	Presence of clinical signs real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Bacterial culture	Treatment depends on the aetiological agent and the disease entity developed (most often antibiotics therapy)	Vaccinations Adequate colostrum intake	[1] [9,10,11,12,13]
Tuberculosis	Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (Mycobacterium bovis, M. microti)	Respiratory distress, enlargement of superficial lymph nodes, discharged skin lesions, death	Post-mortem examination and bacterial culture (definitive diagnosis) Single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT) Lateral-flow rapid test (RT), multiantigen print immunoassay (MAPIA)	No treatment	No specific guidelines	[14,15,16]
Johne’s disease	Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis (MAP)	Protein-losing enteropathy with severe weight loss, asymptomatic infections, non-specific symptoms	PCR Bacterial culture Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) Agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID) Complement fixation test (CFT) Post-mortem examination	No specific guidelines	Early detection of MAP carriers and shedders Vaccinations Adequate colostrum intake	[17,18]
Streptococcal infections (Alpaca fever)	Streptococcus equi spp. zooepidemicus	Septic peritonitis and pleuritis, mastitis, septic orchitis, pneumonia	Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing Bacterial culture Post-mortem examination	Systemic antibiotics and intravenous fluid therapy; Drainage of local lesions;	Metaphylactic treatment of the whole flock	[19,20,21]
Escherichia coli infections	Escherichia coli	Diarrhoea, septicaemia, neurological signs	Bacterial culture	Administering blood or dam serum; Antibiotics therapy (based on the antibiogram) Supportive treatment (intravenous fluid therapy)	Adequate colostrum intake	[22,23]
Pasteurellosis	Pasteurella multocida Manheimia haemolytica	Pneumonia, laryngeal abscesses	Bacterial culture	Antibiotic therapy NSAIDs	No specific guidelines	[24,25]
Corynebacterial infections	Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis	Abscesses Mastitis, diarrhoea	ELISA Immunodiffusion Haemolysis inhibition test Bacterial culture	No specific guidelines	Vaccination	[26,27]