Alpacas slaughtered in Beijing after found to be diseased

A group of alpacas imported from Latin America earlier this month to farms in the Beijing area have been put down after they were found to be diseased.

Nine of the animals were destroyed, according to The Beijing News.

They were among 946 of the animals which were imported from Chile, the newspaper said.

Six of the alpacas had Q fever, a bacterial infection often found in domesticated animals.

The three others had a viral form of bovine diarrhoea, the report said.

The farms where the animals were kept have been cleaned and sterilised.