Experimental Toxoplasmosis in the Stumptailed Macaque

Abstract

In search of a primate model to study problems in human toxoplasmosis, 10 seronegative Macaco arctoides ( = M. speciosa) females were inoculated subcutaneously, intravenously, or orally with either the RH or C56 strain of Toxoplasma gondii. Susceptibility of inoculated animals was shown by rising dye test titers, with fever, parasitemia, and some serum enzyme changes during the acute phase. Chronic infections which followed were detectable by persistent dye test titers and intermittent lymphadenopathy, and proved by isolations of parasites from heart and/or brain tissues at least 30 weeks after inoculation. These findings showed that the responses to toxoplasmosis of this species of monkey paralleled those of man, indicating its suitability as a model.