Fascioliasis in Llama, Lama glama, in Andean Endemic Areas: Experimental Transmission Capacity by the High Altitude Snail Vector Galba truncatula and Epidemiological Analysis of Its Reservoir Role

Simple Summary The infection by the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica in South American camelids, mainly llamas and alpacas, has been the focus of many studies. However, their capacity to participate in the transmission of the disease and their potential reservoir role in human or animal endemic areas have never been studied. Therefore, all development stages of an isolate from Argentine llama of the high Andean plateau have been experimentally investigated, from egg embryogenesis to metacercarial infectivity, by using the vector snail Galba truncatula from the high altitude Bolivian Altiplano human hyperendemic area. Although eggs shed by llamas may successfully develop until the adult stage i…