Pneumonia Caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca leonina) Manjunatha V.1,*, Rout M.2, Shankar B.P.4, Vijay N.3, Umashankar K.S.3, Hegde R.4 1Wild Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Bannerghatta Biological Park, Bannerghatta-560083, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 2ICAR-National Institute on Foot and Mouth Disease, International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease, Bhubaneswar-752050, Odisha, India 3Zoo Hospital, Bannerghatta Biological Park, Bannerghatta-560083, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 4Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Hebbal, Bengaluru-560024, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author email: manjuvet330@gmail.com
Online Published on 02 March, 2024. Abstract The bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae is a ubiquitous organism found in the environment (soil and water) as well as an upper respiratory or gastrointestinal commensal in the majority of mammalian species. A 12-year-old male pig-tailed macaque exhibited respiratory distress and was under treatment. Initially, it showed a good response to the treatment but later exhibited respiratory symptoms and did not respond further. Necropsy examination of the animal revealed pale and icteric mucous membranes. Internal thoracic organs revealed multiple small abscesses spread over the lung parenchyma with little exudate in the thorax. The liver was enlarged and red with sub-capsular hemorrhages, icteric and fragile consistency with round borders, while other organs appeared to be normal. The histopathology of lung sections showed. The inflamed parenchyma, inflammatory cell infiltration, and necrosis were observed in the liver. Fatty changes with mononuclear cell infiltration were also noted. In this case, K. pneumoniae bacteria were isolated and identified based on colony morphology, Gram stain, and further biochemical testing. The study conclusively establishes pneumonia in the pig-tailed macaque species caused by K. pneumoniae. Regular health check-ups should be implemented for animals to monitor and detect such agents. Top Keywords Pneumonia, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pig-tailed macaque. Top |