Arcobacter butzleri isolated from a diarrhoeic non-human primate

The bacteriological examination of a faecal specimen from a 20-year-old fem ale rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) with diarrhoeal illness revealed the pr esence of a large number of a relatively new enteric pathogen, Arcobacter b utzleri. The animal was from a closed colony of about 60 females, some of t hem were showing intermittent diarrhoea possibly related to Giardia spp. Co nditions for the isolation and identification of A. butzleri are reported, as well as discussions about its role as a primary pathogen and its zoonoti c potential.