A Study of Acute Infection of the Respiratory Tract in the Ape.

During an investigation of the type of acute infections of the human upper respiratory tract usually grouped under the term “Common Cold”, we have considered the possibility of finding an animal susceptible to infections of this nature. Such animal diseases as distemper in dogs and snuffles in rabbits, though having a certain resemblance to the human disease, seemed in all probability to be too dissimilar from an etiological standpoint to be of immediate value. Our search led us to consider the advisability of employing the anthropoid ape for the purpose. On questioning curators of zoological collections and others having to do with the importation and study of the higher apes, it quickly became obvious that those animals not only frequently suffered from “Common Colds”, but that the source of infection was a human being similarly afflicted. The description of the condition bears a striking resemblance to the human disease and not infrequently it is followed by a secondary pneumonia of severe character. Having assured ourselves of the probable susceptibility of these animals to the condition under investigation, the decision was made to collect a small colony of anthropoids and to study in them the spontaneous occurrence of upper respiratory infection and the nature of the experimentally produced disease. The animals were obtained from dealers, had been exposed to intimate human contact for from 3 months to a year, and some were known to have suffered from acute upper respiratory infection of the type described. Young animals of about 3 years of age and under 30 pounds weight were chosen because of the ease with which they could be handled. The animals were at all times protected from frequent human contact and during the period of experimental observation were under strict quarantine, all attendants employing surgical aseptic technic of sterile hood, mask, gown, and rubber gloves.