Fall Show Health Advisory: Steps to Keep Your Alpacas Safe
On behalf of the Government and Industry
Relations Committee (GIRCom)
It has come to our attention that a number of alpacas that attended recent fall shows have exhibited symptoms of diarrhea. These affected alpacas have traveled across multiple states, leading to reports of severe diarrhea from additional alpaca farms.
If you have alpacas that attended any of the fall shows or have been exposed to alpacas that attended the shows, you should monitor your alpacas closely for the development of diarrhea. If diarrhea develops, you should quarantine the animals and speak to your veterinarian immediately.
Biosecurity is important to reduce the introduction and spread of disease. To minimize the risk of introducing and spreading disease, it’s essential to follow these biosecurity measures:
- Quarantine alpacas returning from shows for two to three weeks to monitor for signs of illness.
- Designate a quarantine area separate from the main herd, ensuring there are no shared fence lines.
- Use dedicated footwear specifically for the quarantine area to prevent cross-contamination.
- Practice thorough handwashing, promptly remove dung, and avoid sharing equipment or halters/leads between the quarantine area and the rest of the herd.
Veterinarians at shows do everything they can to identify sick animals during vet check, but it is not always possible to know if an alpaca is incubating a potentially transmissible disease.Therefore, it is important to always practice biosecurity with your show animals and to monitor them closely after every show.
If you have sick animals on your farm, please let us know to help GIRCom assess the extent of this issue. You can submit a confidential support ticket through our website, the details of which will only be shared with the committee.
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