Weissella confusa infection in primate (Cercopithecus mona)

We describe systemic infection by Weissella confusa in a mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona) on the basis of microbiologic, molecular genetic, and histologic data. The same strain of W. confusa, as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, was isolated in pure culture from the primate’s brain, liver, spleen, and intestine. Histologic lesions showed inflammatory infiltrates mainly composed of neutrophils, indicating an acute septicemic process.Weissella microorganisms are gram-positive, catalase-negative coccobacilli, which have been isolated from a wide variety of habitats such as soil, fresh vegetables, fermented foods, or meat and meat products (1,2). The genus Weissella is peculiar since it currently includes 11 validated species, but only Weissella confusa (basonym Lactobacillus confusus) and W.eissella cibaria have been isolated from human or animal clinical sources. W. cibaria has been isolated from human bile and feces, the liver of a canary, and ear samples from a dog (1). W. confusa has been isolated from feces of children with bacteremic infections (3) and liver transplants (4), and from the peritoneal fluids and abdominal walls of two patients (5). In animals, W. confusa has been isolated from necropsy specimens from a dog and from the ear of a dog with otitis (1). However, with the exception of a thumb abscess caused by W. confusa in a healthy 49-year-old man (6), the clinical significance of all other clinical isolates was not clearly established. This article describes the first well-documented systemic infection caused by W. confusa in a primate.