title: Acute toxoplasmosis in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) in Mexico.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii causes fatal multisystemic disease in New World primates, with respiratory failure and multifocal necrotic lesions. Although cases and outbreaks of toxoplasmosis have been described, there are few genotyping studies and none has included parasite load quantification. In this article, we describe two cases of lethal acute toxoplasmosis in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) of Mexico city. The main pathological findings included pulmonary edema, interstitial pneumonia, hepatitis and necrotizing lymphadenitis, and structures similar to T. gondii tachyzoites observed by histopathology in these organs. Diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy and both end point and real time PCR. The load was between <14 and 23 parasites/mg tissue. Digestion of the SAG3 gene amplicon showed similar bands to type I reference strains. These are the first cases of toxoplasmosis in primates studied in Mexico, with clinical features similar to others reported in Israel and French Guiana, although apparently caused by a different T. gondii variant.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Inmunología Experimental, Torre de Investigación, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaria de Salud, Insurgentes Sur 3700-C, Colonia Insurgentes Cuicuilco, Delegación Coyoacán, C.P. 04530 México, D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cedillo-Peláez
authors.forename: Claudia Patricia
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Rico-Torres
authors.forename: Carlos Gerardo
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Salas-Garrido
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Correa
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D053819:Atelinae; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology