SPONTANEOUS OCCURRENCE OF ANGIOSTRONGYLUS-COSTARICENSIS IN MARMOSETS (SAGUINUS-MYSTAX)

Abstract

Two marmosets imported from Iquitos, Peru, were infected with A. costaricensis. Both animals had large solitary granulomas involving the wall and adjacent mesentery of the small intestine. Histopathologic examination showed the adult nematodes in the lumina of the mesenteric arteries that coursed through these granulomas. The inflammatory reaction was associated with numerous degenerating eggs and larvae. This is the 1st report of this parasite in nonhuman primates and extends its geographic range to Peru. In 1 animal, Dipetalonema sp. were seen free in the abdominal cavity, and plerocercoid larvae (spargana) were in the loose connective tissue of the left axilla. This animal also had microgranulomas associated with eggs and larvae of Angiostrongylus in the kidney, liver, lung and heart.