Treponema infection associated with genital ulceration in wild baboons
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Date
2012
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The American College of Veterinary Pathologists
Abstract
The authors describe genital alterations and detailed histologic findings in baboons naturally infected with Treponema
pallidum. The disease causes moderate to severe genital ulcerations in a population of olive baboons (Papio hamadryas
anubis) at Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. In a field survey in 2007, 63 individuals of all age classes, both sexes,
and different grades of infection were chemically immobilized and sampled. Histology and molecular biological tests
were used to detect and identify the organism responsible: a strain similar to T pallidum ssp pertenue, the cause of yaws
in humans. Although treponemal infections are not a new phenomenon in nonhuman primates, the infection described
here appears to be strictly associated with the anogenital region and results in tissue alterations matching those found
in human syphilis infections (caused by T pallidum ssp pallidum), despite the causative pathogen’s greater genetic
similarity to human yaws-causing strains.
Description
Keywords
Treponema pallidum, Genital, Histology, Immunohistochemistry, Nonhuman primate, Olive baboon (Papio hamadryas anubis), Sexually transmitted disease, Syphilis