02194nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001100067653001100078653001200089653002400101653002000125100001700145700001500162700001300177700001600190700001500206245006100221856004100282300001000323490000700333520157400340022001401914       1998                            d  c1998 Jun10aAnimals10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMacaca fascicularis10aMonkey Diseases1 aValverde C R1 aCanfield D1 aTarara R1 aEsteves M I1 aGormus B J00aSpontaneous leprosy in a wild-caught cynomolgus macaque.  uhttp://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v66n2a03.pdf  a140-80 v663 a<p>Naturally occurring Mycobacterium leprae has been previously documented in only two species of nonhuman primates from West Africa--the chimpanzee and the sooty mangabey. We report here the first known case of spontaneous leprosy in an Asian macaque. A wild-caught cynomolgus macaque imported from The Philippines developed a reaction to a tuberculin skin test after 3 years at the California Regional Primate Research Center (CRPRC), University of California-Davis, Davis, California, U.S.A. Biopsies of concurrent skin lesions suggested a cutaneous mycobacterial infection. Diagnosis of the infection was obtained by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay specific for M. leprae. Clinical presentation, histopathological findings, and ELISA serology for M. leprae-specific PGL-I and to the LAM mycobacterial antigens were consistent with those of human borderline (BB) leprosy. Longitudinal serologic data suggest that the cynomolgus macaque had subclinical leprosy at the time of arrival in the CRPRC quarantine. Intradermal tuberculin testing is the traditional method for screening nonhuman primate populations for mycobacterial infections. Exposure to nontuberculous mycobacteria, such as M. leprae, amy sensitize some individual primates to nonspecific mycobacterial antigens, resulting in false-positive tuberculin reactions. Susceptibility of the cynomolgus macaque and other nonhuman primates to M. leprae should be re-evaluated. Cynomolgus macaques and, possibly, other nonhuman primates may serve as valuable experimental models of leprosy in humans.</p>  a0148-916X