A recombinant VSV-vectored vaccine rapidly protects nonhuman primates against lethal Nipah virus disease.

SignificanceConcern has increased about the pandemic potential of Nipah virus (NiV). Similar to SARS-CoV-2, NiV is an RNA virus that is transmitted by respiratory droplets. There are currently no NiV vaccines licensed for human use. While several preventive vaccines have shown promise in protecting animals against lethal NiV disease, most studies have assessed protection 1 mo after vaccination. However, in order to contain and control outbreaks, vaccines that can rapidly confer protection in days rather than months are needed. Here, we show that a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vector expressing the NiV glycoprotein can completely protect monkeys vaccinated 7 d prior to NiV exposure and 67% of animals vaccinated 3 d before NiV challenge.

ACANTHOCEPHALANS PROSTHENORCHIS CF. ELEGANS (ARCHIACANTHOCEPHALA: OLIGACANTHORHYNCHIDAE), PARASITES OF PRIMATES IN THE MOSCOW ZOO.

Acanthocephalans Prosthenorchis cf. elegans were found in primates in the Moscow Zoo. The larvae of these parasites (cistacanths) were found in cockroaches Blattella germanica that had been captured near aviaries of infected animals. Descriptions and drawings of adult parasites and their larvae are given. Analysis of Prosthenorchis cf. elegans genes ITS 1 rDNA and CO 1 mtDNA shows phylogenetic relations of these parasites with several representatives of the class Archiacanthocephala. The obtained molecular data, however, do not support the monophyly of the family Oligacanthorhynchidae and the order Oligacanthorhynchida.

Potential Contribution of Cytomegalovirus Infection to Prenatal and Early Neonatal Mortality of Monkeys in the Adler Breeding Center.

Scrapings from the cervical canals and uterine cavities of females with a history of miscarriages, pathological deliveries, and stillbirths were tested for the cytomegalovirus DNA. The incidence of the agent in the females with a history of gestosis and abnormal deliveries was significantly higher than in females without anamnesis of this kind. Parenchymatous organs of stillborn neonates and animals dead during the first month of life were studied. This analysis and studies of the umbilical cords and placentas showed generalized cytomegalovirus infection in 22% dead animals, which objectively proved intrauterine infection.

Lethal canine distemper virus outbreak in cynomolgus monkeys in Japan in 2008.

Canine distemper virus (CDV) has recently expanded its host range to nonhuman primates. A large CDV outbreak occurred in rhesus monkeys at a breeding farm in Guangxi Province, China, in 2006, followed by another outbreak in rhesus monkeys at an animal center in Beijing in 2008. In 2008 in Japan, a CDV outbreak also occurred in cynomolgus monkeys imported from China. In that outbreak, 46 monkeys died from severe pneumonia during a quarantine period. A CDV strain (CYN07-dV) was isolated in Vero cells expressing dog signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM). Phylogenic analysis showed that CYN07-dV was closely related to the recent CDV outbreaks in China, suggesting continuing chains of CDV infection in monkeys. In vitro, CYN07-dV uses macaca SLAM and macaca nectin4 as receptors as efficiently as dog SLAM and dog nectin4, respectively. CYN07-dV showed high virulence in experimentally infected cynomolgus monkeys and excreted progeny viruses in oral fluid and feces. These data revealed that some of the CDV strains, like CYN07-dV, have the potential to cause acute systemic infection in monkeys.

Encephalomyocarditis virus infections in an Australian zoo.

Fatal encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) infections in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), a squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus), three mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), a pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis), and two Goodfellows tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus goodfellowi) occurred at Taronga Zoo. This is the first description of EMCV in a zoological collection outside of the United States. Regardless of species, the most common clinical presentation was sudden death. The gross pathologic changes were diffuse or focal pallor of the myocardium with occasional marked pulmonary congestion. Necrotizing nonsuppurative myocarditis was consistently present. EMCV was isolated from only one of 54 feral rodents examined. No antibodies to EMCV were detected with a serum neutralization test in 79 stored sera from a wide variety of zoo mammals. Titers of 1:16, 1:16, and 1:4 were recorded for a spider monkey (Aeteles geoffroyi), a lion (Panthera leo), and an orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), respectively. Of seven mandrills tested in 1988, six had measurable virus titers. Later testing indicated that these titers did not persist, and one mandrill with a titer > 1:128 in 1988 subsequently succumbed to EMCV infection in 1991.

Levofloxacin cures experimental pneumonic plague in African green monkeys.

BACKGROUND: Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, is considered a potential bioweapon due to rapid lethality when delivered as an aerosol. Levofloxacin was tested for primary pneumonic plague treatment in a nonhuman primate model mimicking human disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-four African Green monkeys (AGMs, Chlorocebus aethiops) were challenged via head-only aerosol inhalation with 3-145 (mean = 65) 50% lethal (LD(50)) doses of Y. pestis strain CO92. Telemetered body temperature >39 °C initiated intravenous infusions to seven 5% dextrose controls or 17 levofloxacin treated animals. Levofloxacin was administered as a "humanized" dose regimen of alternating 8 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg 30-min infusions every 24-h, continuing until animal death or 20 total infusions, followed by 14 days of observation. Fever appeared at 53-165 h and radiographs found multilobar pneumonia in all exposed animals. All control animals died of severe pneumonic plague within five days of aerosol exposure. All 16 animals infused with levofloxacin for 10 days survived. Levofloxacin treatment abolished bacteremia within 24 h in animals with confirmed pre-infusion bacteremia, and reduced tachypnea and leukocytosis but not fever during the first 2 days of infusions. CONCLUSION: Levofloxacin cures established pneumonic plague when treatment is initiated after the onset of fever in the lethal aerosol-challenged AGM nonhuman primate model, and can be considered for treatment of other forms of plague. Levofloxacin may also be considered for primary presumptive-use, multi-agent antibiotic in bioterrorism events prior to identification of the pathogen.

Vaccination of rhesus macaques with the anthrax vaccine adsorbed vaccine produces a serum antibody response that effectively neutralizes receptor-bound protective antigen in vitro.

Anthrax toxin (ATx) is composed of the binary exotoxins lethal toxin (LTx) and edema toxin (ETx). They have separate effector proteins (edema factor and lethal factor) but have the same binding protein, protective antigen (PA). PA is the primary immunogen in the current licensed vaccine anthrax vaccine adsorbed (AVA [BioThrax]). AVA confers protective immunity by stimulating production of ATx-neutralizing antibodies, which could block the intoxication process at several steps (binding of PA to the target cell surface, furin cleavage, toxin complex formation, and binding/translocation of ATx into the cell). To evaluate ATx neutralization by anti-AVA antibodies, we developed two low-temperature LTx neutralization activity (TNA) assays that distinguish antibody blocking before and after binding of PA to target cells (noncomplexed [NC] and receptor-bound [RB] TNA assays). These assays were used to investigate anti-PA antibody responses in AVA-vaccinated rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) that survived an aerosol challenge with Bacillus anthracis Ames spores. Results showed that macaque anti-AVA sera neutralized LTx in vitro, even when PA was prebound to cells. Neutralization titers in surviving versus nonsurviving animals and between prechallenge and postchallenge activities were highly correlated. These data demonstrate that AVA stimulates a myriad of antibodies that recognize multiple neutralizing epitopes and confirm that change, loss, or occlusion of epitopes after PA is processed from PA83 to PA63 at the cell surface does not significantly affect in vitro neutralizing efficacy. Furthermore, these data support the idea that the full-length PA83 monomer is an appropriate immunogen for inclusion in next-generation anthrax vaccines.

Polycystic nephropathy in slender lorises (Loris lydekkerianus).

In a colony of slender lorises, 20 deaths that occurred over a period of 11 years were investigated postmortem. Juvenile/adult polycystic nephropathy was observed in one newborn and 13 adult slender lorises. Although polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in humans and other animals is known to be inherited, it is not clear whether kidney alterations in slender lorises are genetically transmitted, stress related, or induced by microbiological influences.

Primates as pets in Mexico City: an assessment of the species involved, source of origin, and general aspects of treatment.

The large human populations in cities are an important source of demand for wildlife pets, including primates, and not much is known about the primate species involved in terms of their general origin, the length of time they are kept as pets, and some of the maintenance problems encountered with their use as pets. We report the results of a survey conducted in Mexico City among primate pet owners, which was aimed at providing some of the above information. We used an ethnographic approach, and pet owners were treated as informants to gain their trust so that we could enter their homes and learn about the life of their primate pets. We surveyed 179 owners of primate pets, which included 12 primate species. Of these, three were native species (Ateles geoffroyi, Alouatta pigra, and A. palliata). The rest were other neotropical primate species not native to Mexico, and some paleotropical species. Spider monkeys and two species of howler monkeys native to Mexico accounted for 67% and 15%, respectively, of the primate cases investigated. The most expensive primate pets were those imported from abroad, while the least expensive were the Mexican species. About 45% of the native primate pets were obtained by their owners in a large market in Mexico City, and the rest were obtained in southern Mexico. Although they can provide companionship for children and adults, primate pets are subject to a number of hazards, some of which put their lives at risk. The demand by city dwellers for primate pets, along with habitat destruction and fragmentation, exerts a significant pressure on wild populations in southern Mexico.