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

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.