title: Treponema infection associated with genital ulceration in wild baboons.
abstract: The authors describe genital alterations and detailed histologic findings in baboons naturally infected with Treponema pallidum. The disease causes moderate to severe genital ulcerations in a population of olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis) at Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. In a field survey in 2007, 63 individuals of all age classes, both sexes, and different grades of infection were chemically immobilized and sampled. Histology and molecular biological tests were used to detect and identify the organism responsible: a strain similar to T pallidum ssp pertenue, the cause of yaws in humans. Although treponemal infections are not a new phenomenon in nonhuman primates, the infection described here appears to be strictly associated with the anogenital region and results in tissue alterations matching those found in human syphilis infections (caused by T pallidum ssp pallidum), despite the causative pathogen's greater genetic similarity to human yaws-causing strains.
authors.affiliation: Justus Liebig University, Clinic for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Andrology of Large and Small Animals, Frankfurterstrasse 106, 35393 Giessen, Germany. Sascha.Knauf.vetmed@gmx.de
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knauf
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Batamuzi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mlengeya
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kilewo
authors.forename: I A V
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Lejora
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nordhoff
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ehlers
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fyumagwa
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hoare
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Failing
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wehrend
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Kaup
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Leendertz
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mätz-Rensing
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D005832:Genital Diseases, Male / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D010215:Papio; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014211:Treponemal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014456:Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*