Prevalence of antibodies to five selected zoonosis agents in monkeys

The prevalence of antibodies against 5 zoonosis agents was determined in serum samples of 443 breeding monkeys. Of the monkeys, 296 were bred or kept for a long time at R institute, and the remaining 147 were newly imported from the Philippines and kept at S institute for quarantine. Antibodies to simian virus 40 were highly prevalent at 89.1% among monkeys of R institute, whereas no antibody could be detected in those of S institute. Antibodies to Chlamydia psittaci and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis were detected in 14.4 and 11.6% at R institute, and in 9.0 and 3.5% at S institute, respectively, evidencing a significant difference (P less than 0.05) between those of the two institutes for both agents. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and Leptospira interrogans were found in 3.6 and 2.9% of the overall, respectively, showing no difference in positive rates in relation to breeding place. Even in cases positive to the latter 4 zoonosis agents, the antibody titers were low. The results obtained suggest that all zoonoses tested do not seem to be so serious diseases among monkeys at the present time except simian virus 40 infection, which is highly prevalent among breeding monkeys in Japan.