Cryptosporidiosis in Two Juvenile Rhesus Monkeys

Abstract

A coccidium of the genus Cryptosporidium, previously unreported in simians, was observed in two juvenile Rhesus monkeys. The organisms were restricted in one to the epithelium of the common bile, intrahepatic and pancreatic ducts and gall bladder and in the other to the epithelium of the small and large intestines. Epithelial hyperplasia and mucosal inflammation were common histologic features. Small bulbous enlargements that might be misinterpreted as cryptosporidia projected from the epithelial cells of some gall bladders of noninfected monkeys.