Recovery of Trichuris tenuis Chandler, 1930, from Camelids (Lama glama andVicugna vicugna) in Argentina

A survey of whipworms was conducted in llamas and vicunas in northwestern A rgentina. Fecal examinations of a group of 14 Llamas (April 1995-March 1996 ) and 69 vicunas (November 1996) indicated a high prevalence (usually >50%) of Trichuris sp. in these hosts. Prevalence was highest during July-Novemb er 1995 that also coincided with the highest mean fecal egg count. During p ostmortem examinations of 1 llama and I vicuna, specimens of Trichuris tenu is were recovered from the cecum/large intestine of each camelid. This is t he first report of T. tenuis in South America, and the first report in the vicuna. It is suggested that T. tenuis is the typical whipworm of aborigina l camelids.