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Weight loss, weakness and lymphadenopathy in two vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus spp.)

Lab Animal volume 40, pages 177–178 (2011)Cite this article

At the Delft Animal Facility of the South African Medical Research Council, we maintain colonies of baboons and vervet monkeys. In accordance with the South African National Guidelines for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes, the baboons are housed singly outdoors, with full visual, olfactory and auditory contact with conspecifics, and vervets are housed indoors in stable male harem groups. The vervet monkeys receive two meals per day. In the morning, they are given a mixture of pre-cooked maize meal, vitamin and mineral mixes, trace elements and protein supplement, mixed with water to make a stiff porridge (∼100 g for each vervet). The afternoon meal consists of pre-cooked maize meal, milled sunflower seeds and maize kernels mixed with water to make a stiff porridge (∼100 g for each vervet). In addition, fresh fruits (apple or orange) or vegetables (sweet potato or carrot) and various enrichment devices such as foraging logs are supplied daily. Fresh water is provided ad libitum via an automatic water system.

Over a period of 1 year (2007–2008), two vervets developed weight loss, general weakness and anorexia. One animal was a 12-year-old, captive-bred adult female weighing 4.36 kg who had lost 620 g over 5 months. During this period, weakness and anorexia worsened, and she developed dyspnea of unknown cause. On clinical examination, she had generalized lymphadenomegaly and a palpably enlarged spleen. The second case was a wild-caught adult male approximately 16 years old, weighing 4.95 kg. He presented clinically with mild dyspnea, weakness and a left swollen eyelid. On clinical examination, he had numerous firm subcutaneous nodules ranging in diameter from 5 mm to 20 mm all over his body and generalized lymphadenomegaly.

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Figure 1: Sliced section of the enlarged spleen from a 12-year-old female vervet that developed weight loss, general weakness and anorexia.
Figure 2: High-power photomicrograph of a tissue sample taken from the spleen shown in Figure 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Delft Animal Centre, Technology and Innovation Directorate, Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa

    Charon de Villiers

  2. Primate Unit, Technology and Innovation Directorate Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa

    Jurgen V. Seier

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  1. Charon de Villiers
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  2. Jurgen V. Seier
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Correspondence to Charon de Villiers.

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de Villiers, C., Seier, J. Weight loss, weakness and lymphadenopathy in two vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus spp.). Lab Anim 40, 177–178 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0611-177

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