Preputial microflora of llamas (Lama glama) and alpacas (Vicugna pacos)

To characterize the normal preputial microflora of healthy male New World camelids (NWC), samples were swabbed from the preputial mucosa of 23 intact and 7 castrated males including 17 llamas and 13 alpacas ranging from 1 day to 16 years of age. The swabs were streaked onto tryptose blood agar with 5% bovine blood, MacConkey's agar, Karmali Campylobacter selective agar and Saboraud's dextrose agar and cultured under aerobic, micro-aerophilic and/or anaerobic conditions. Bacteria but not fungi or Campylobacter were isolated from all 30 animals. The mean numbers of bacterial isolates obtained per male were 3.4 for alpacas (range 2–6), 4.0 for llamas (range 1–7) and 3.7 for both species combined. Of 22 bacterial genera identified from a total of 112 isolates, five were aerobes, 11 were facultative anaerobes and six were obligate anaerobes. Nine isolates failed to subculture and could not be identified. The most frequently isolated genera in descending order of frequency were Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Streptococcus, Bacteroides, Corynebacterium, Arcanobacterium and Actinomyces. This is the first description of the microflora present on the preputial mucosa of healthy llamas and alpacas. Most of the bacteria isolated from the prepuce are considered commensal organisms, but several could be opportunistic pathogens under appropriate conditions.