First detection of Echinococcus multilocularis infection in two species of nonhuman primates raised in a zoo: A fatal case in Cercopithecus diana and a strongly suspected case of spontaneous recovery in Macaca nigra

• Published in: Parasitology international Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 621 - 626
• Main Authors: Yamano, Kimiaki, Kouguchi, Hirokazu, Uraguchi, Kohji, Mukai, Takeshi, Shibata, Chikako, Yamamoto, Hideaki, Takaesu, Noboru, Ito, Masaki, Makino, Yoshinori, Takiguchi, Mitsuyoshi, Yagi, Kinpei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.08.2014
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Zoo; antibodies; Blotting, Western - veterinary; Cercopithecus; Cercopithecus diana; computed tomography; definitive hosts; DNA-directed DNA polymerase; echinococcosis; Echinococcosis, Hepatic - parasitology; Echinococcosis, Hepatic - veterinary; Echinococcus multilocularis; Echinococcus multilocularis - isolation & purification; eggs; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - veterinary; Fatal Outcome; feces; Female; females; foxes; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; histopathology; humans; Indonesia; Infectious Disease; ingestion; intermediate hosts; Japan; liver; Macaca; Macaca nigra; Monkey Diseases - parasitology; parasites; polymerase chain reaction; Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; Remission, Spontaneous; serodiagnosis; Spontaneous recovery; surveys; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - veterinary; voles; Vulpes; Vulpes vulpes; Western blotting; Zoo; zoos; Japan; Indonesia; Echinococcus multilocularis; Spontaneous recovery; Zoo; Cercopithecus diana; Macaca nigra
• ISSN: 1383-5769; 1873-0329; 1873-0329
• DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2014.04.006

The causative parasite of alveolar echinococcosis, Echinococcus multilocularis, maintains its life cycle between red foxes (Vulpes vulples, the definitive hosts) and voles (the intermediate hosts) in Hokkaido, Japan. Primates, including humans, and some other mammal species can be infected by the accidental ingestion of eggs in the feces of red foxes. In August 2011, a 6-year-old zoo-raised female Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana) died from alveolar echinococcosis. E. multilocularis infection was confirmed by histopathological examination and detection of the E. multilocularis DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A field survey in the zoo showed that fox intrusion was common, and serodiagnosis of various nonhuman primates using western blotting detected a case of a 14-year-old female Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra) that was weakly positive for E. multilocularis. Computed tomography revealed only one small calcified lesion (approximately 8mm) in the macaque's liver, and both western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed a gradual decline of antibody titer. These findings strongly suggest that the animal had recovered spontaneously. Until this study, spontaneous recovery from E. multilocularis infection in a nonhuman primate had never been reported. [Display omitted] •We report the first case of Echinococcus multilocularis infection in a Diana monkey.•We report the first case of E. multilocularis infection in a Celebes crested macaque.•A Celebes crested macaque case suggests that spontaneous recovery is possible.•This is the first report of a spontaneous recovery case in a nonhuman primate.