Spontaneous nocardial brain abscess in a juvenile rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta)

J Med Primatol. 2015 Feb;44(1):45-8. doi: 10.1111/jmp.12153. Epub 2014 Dec 3.

Abstract

Background: A juvenile rhesus macaque presented with blindness, ataxia, and head tilt.

Methods: Postmortem gross and microscopic examination, histochemical staining and bacterial culture were performed.

Results: Nocardia sp. was identified as the etiologic agent of a primary pneumonia with secondary cerebral abscessation.

Conclusions: Nocardiosis should be a differential diagnosis for patients with neurologic disease.

Keywords: Nocardia spp.; monkey; nocardiosis; non-human primate.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain Abscess / diagnosis*
  • Brain Abscess / microbiology
  • Brain Abscess / pathology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Lung Diseases / complications
  • Lung Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Lung Diseases / pathology
  • Macaca mulatta*
  • Monkey Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Monkey Diseases / microbiology
  • Monkey Diseases / pathology
  • Nocardia / isolation & purification
  • Nocardia Infections / diagnosis*
  • Nocardia Infections / microbiology
  • Nocardia Infections / pathology