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Diagnosis | Nasal foreign body

Lab Animal volume 39, pages 302–303 (2010)Cite this article

Historically, bloody nasal discharge in macaques has been attributed to either low humidity levels3,4 or infection with the agent Moraxella (or Branhamella) catarrhalis5,6,7. Clinical signs in cynomolgus macaques with positive nasal cultures for M. catarrhalis include sneezing, epistaxis and mucohemorrhagic nasal discharge5. Infection is transmitted via aerosol droplets, which means it is contagious to other animals housed in close proximity5. The widespread production of a beta-lactamase enzyme renders M. catarrhalis resistant to the penicillins8. But cephalosporins and beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations, such as amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, are effective for treatment of beta-lactamase producers, and the organism remains nearly universally susceptible to macrolides, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole8.

We reviewed data from our automatic environmental monitoring systems (Watchdog; Edstrom, Waterford, WI) and found that no significant deviation from the set point of 60% relative humidity had occurred. Consequently, we ruled out low humidity as a cause of the epistaxis. Because we did not culture Moraxella spp. from the monkey's nasal swab sample, and we had already treated the animal with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, we also ruled out Moraxella spp. as a cause of the epistaxis. Furthermore, the clinical presentation of swelling over the bridge of the nose did not support either of these differential diagnoses.

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Diagnosis | Nasal foreign body. Lab Anim 39, 302–303 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1010-302

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