An Atypical Case of Mycobacterium bovis in a Cynomolgus Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) Imported From the Philippines.

An incidental case of Mycobacterium bovis was confirmed in a cynomolgus macaque from a shipment of 100 animals imported to the University of Southwestern Louisiana New Iberia Research Center from the Philippines. The macaque was euthanized 4 weeks into the quarantine period (October 1997) for failure to thrive and suspected melioidosis. Approximately 6 months later, on 9 March 1998, culture and antigenic probes from kidney tissues identified the etiologic agent as M. bovis. Five remaining cohort animals were euthanized after we obtained the results from the index case. Kidney tissues from two of the cohort animals were positive for M. avium. All animals had negative intradermal skin tests prior to euthanasia. All three animals positive for Mycobacterium were sero-negative for retroviruses. The unusual presentation of this case, coupled with the inability to detect disease by standard means, serves to emphasize the importance of follow-up examination and culture of tissues obtained from imported non-human primates.