Chemotherapy of haemobartonellosis in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)

Splenectomised Saimiri sciureus squirrel monkeys are being used increasingly as an experimental host for human malarial studies, notably for the assessment of candidate vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage infection. Recently, we have reported that colony-reared S. sciureus monkeys are asymptomatic carriers of Haemobartonella sp. and that patent Haemobartonella infection, activated following splenectomy, may interfere with the course of P. falciparum parasitaemia in these animals. For several years, splenectomised S. sciureus monkeys were routinely submitted to oxytetracycline therapy before their use in malarial studies in order to prevent a possible spontaneous Heamobartonella infection. However, we report here that such antibiotic therapy is often ineffective and that neoarsphenamine chemotherapy may be considered as an alternative to cure both latent and patent haemobartonellosis in S. sciureus monkeys.