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Pathology of Inhalational Anthrax Infection in the African Green Monkey

United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD

Abstract

There is a critical need for an alternative nonhuman primate model for inhalational anthrax infection because of the increasingly limited supply and cost of the current model. This report describes the pathology in 12 African green monkeys (AGMs) that succumbed to inhalational anthrax after exposure to a low dose (presented dose 200–2 x 10⁴colony-forming units [cfu]) or a high dose (presented dose 2 x 10⁴–1 x 10⁷ cfu) of Bacillus anthracis (Ames strain) spores. Frequent gross lesions noted in the AGM were hemorrhage and edema in the lung, mediastinum, and mediastinal lymph nodes; pleural and pericardial effusions; meningitis; and gastrointestinal congestion and hemorrhage. Histopathologic findings included necrohemorrhagic lymphadenitis of mediastinal, axillary, inguinal, and mesenteric lymph nodes; mediastinal edema; necrotizing splenitis; meningitis; and congestion, hemorrhage, and edema of the lung, mesentery, mesenteric lymph nodes, gastrointestinal tract, and gonads. Pathologic changes in AGMs were remarkably similar to what has been reported in rhesus macaques and humans that succumbed to inhalational anthrax; thus, AGMs could serve as useful models for inhalation anthrax studies.

Key words: African green monkeys; anthrax; Bacillus anthracis; biologic warfare agent; inhalation anthrax disease; rhesus macaques.

Request reprints from Dr Nancy A Twenhafel, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Pathology Division, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011 (USA). E-mail: nancy.twenhafel{at}us.army.mil

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