Outbreak of Dysentery Due to Contact with a Pet Monkey

Abstract

An outbreak of bacillary dysentery is described, involving seven children and one adult out of 17 persons at risk, following household contact with a newly imported pet monkey. Sh. flexneri Y was isolated from four children and the monkey. From the other three children Sh. flexneri 4a was isolated, and the adult, who remained symptomless, was found to be excreting Sh. flexneri Y and Sh. flexneri 4a on separate occasions. All the strains of Sh. flexneri, irrespective of serotype, had the rare and epidemiologically useful marker of being catalase-^ negative. This fact and the known antigenic relation of Sh. flexneri Y to Sh. flexneri 4a combined with the sequence of the infections following the sojourn of the monkey within the different families are very suggestive that the cases constituted a single outbreak. The attention of medical practitioners and veterinary surgeons in general practice is drawn to the risks of shigella infections spreading from pet monkeys to their human contacts, and it is urged that the public should be warned of the unsuitability of monkeys as domestic pets, particularly where there are young children in a household. Our thanks are due to Dr. T. R. Roberton, Medical Officer of Health for Bootle, for his help in obtaining the epidemiological data. © 1965, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.