Posterior paralysis and spinal osteomyelitis in a rhesus monkey with coccidioidomycosis
Castleman, W.L.; Anderson, J.; Holmberg, C.A.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 177(9): 933-934
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 7451346 Document Number: 164930
A monkey, which had been walking with an altered gait for 3-4 months, suddenly developed posterior paralysis. The right limb was flaccid and there was minimal voluntary activity of the left limb. Radiography revealed soft tissue swelling and bone lysis around a thoracic vertebra. The animal was killed and during post-mortem examination a firm mass, 1.5 cm long, was found in the area of the dorsal spinous process of the 11th thoracic vertebra, and extending round the spinal cord. The mass was yellowish-tan and many white spots, 1 mm diam., were scattered through it. Endospores typical of Coccidioides immitis were seen on microscopic examination of the mass and the diagnosis was confirmed by culture of the fungus from the lung and the spinal mass.