A CASE OF PULMONARY CESTODIASIS IN A SIMIAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-INFECTED PIGTAILED MACAQUE (MACACA-NEMESTRINA) IN WHICH VIRUS-INFECTED LEUKOCYTES ARE PRESENT WITHIN THE LESION

The larvae of Mesocestoides are rarely encountered in nonhuman primate s, with most cases reported in baboons. Infection of macaques has been occasionally diagnosed, but Mesocestoides in the lung parenchyma is e xtremely rare. We have previously demonstrated that in macaques with t erminal AIDS, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected leukocytes are rarely found in cellular infiltrates associated with opportunistic infections or preexisting disease. Here we describe larvae (tetrathyr idia) of the cestode Mesocestoides in the lung of an adult, pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) during acute SIV infection in which virus- positive cells are present within the cellular infiltrates. These resu lts describe a rare parasitic disease in pigtailed macaques and demons trate that lentivirus-infected leukocytes can be associated with infla mmatory sites during acute infection.