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Incidence of lymphoma in a captive‐bred colony of hamadryas baboons ( Papio hamadryas )
Author(s) -
Graves LE,
Hennessy A,
Sunderland NS,
Heffernan SJ,
Thomson SE
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2009.00434.x
Subject(s) - baboon , lymphoma , incidence (geometry) , disease , wasting , biology , immunology , medicine , pathology , ecology , physics , optics
Objective To assess the incidence of lymphoma and wasting‐related deaths in the National Baboon Colony of Australia and relate it to the presence of simian T‐cell lymphotrophic virus 1 (STLV‐1) infection. Design and procedure The records of all animals that had died since establishment of the National Baboon Colony in Australia were reviewed retrospectively. The clinical signs and histopathological findings were recorded and assessed to determine the involvement of lymphoma in the deaths. The presence of STLV‐1 was recorded if known and correlated with the STLV‐1 status of the colony. Results Of the deaths from disease or illness, 53% were diagnosed as or suspected to be lymphoma, occurring in mature animals with no sex predisposition. The most common presentation was rapidly occurring generalised lymphadenomegaly. Conclusions This study has described a relatively high prevalence of lymphoma in a colony of captive‐bred baboons, and it is evident that STLV‐1 may play a role in the disease. Management practices in baboon colonies need to take into account the possible presence of STLV‐1 and aim to reduce the transmission of the virus by preventing sexual contact between positive and negative animals. Lymphoma needs to be considered as one of the more common causes of wasting and death.