Eosinophilic Meningoencephalitis Due to Angiostrongylus Cantonensis as the Cause of Death in Captive Non-Human Primates

Abstract

Fatal eosinophilic meningoencephalitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis is reported in captive non-human primates. A howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) at the Audubon Park and Zoological Gardens, New Orleans, LA, died 21 days after initial clinical symptoms. A white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) died at the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo, Nassau, Bahamas, 17 days after onset of symptoms. Both had access to free-ranging gastropods within the zoos. These are the first reported cases of natural infection by A. cantonensis in non-human primates in the western hemisphere.