Microbial agents of the owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus).

A survey of the microbial flora in the owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus) has led to the isolation of numerous bacterial, fungal, and viral agents. Some of the bacterial and fungal agents, particularly Dermatophilus, Pasteurella, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Candida are known pathogens. Viruses belonging to the herpesvirus, adenovirus, paramyxovirus, and papovavirus groups have been isolated from the owl monkey. Most of these viruses were recovered as latent agents from kidney cell cultures. Thus far, they have not been associated with clinical illness or specific lesions in the owl monkey and their infectivity for other animal hosts and for man is unknown.

Spontaneous Herpesvirus saimiri lymphoma in owl monkeys.

Three examples of spontaneous malignant lymphoma were observed in owl monkeys 23, 81, and 183 days after arrival in our laboratories. The pathological features of the disease were analogous to experimentally induced Herpesvirus saimiri lymphoma. H. saimiri was recovered from 2 animals (it was not attempted from one case) and one isolate was shown to reproduce characteristic H. saimiri malignant lymphoma. Each monkey originated in Peru in contrast to our usual source of owl monkeys which originate in Barranquilla, Colombia. Samples collected from owl monkeys in Peru did not reveal antibodies to H. saimiri nor were virus isolated from cocultured leukocytes. Squirrel monkeys in the same geographical location all carried H. saimiri. The observations indicate that H. saimiri lymphoma can occur as a spontaneous disease and that the virus can cross the same taxonomic lines in nature as in the laboratory.