Acute Bacterial Septicemia in a Critically Endangered Roloway Monkey in a Primate Breeding Center at the Accra Zoological Garden, Ghana - Case Report

Sep 30, 2026

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A case report documents the sudden death of Sweetpea, a 15-year-old female critically endangered roloway monkey (Cercopithecus roloway) kept in captive breeding and conservation at the Accra Zoological Garden in Ghana. Found dead on September 21, 2018 with no preceding illness, the necropsy and histopathology revealed acute fibrinous pneumonia, septicemia, and myocardial necrosis. Culture from lung tissue and thoracic fluid identified β-hemolytic Streptococcus spp. as the likely causative agent, while a uterine leiomyosarcoma was also detected, potentially affecting reproduction. The findings emphasize structured health monitoring and surveillance in captive breeding.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Case Presentation

Wiley Case Reports in Veterinary Medicine Volume 2026, Article ID 4924170, 9 pages [https://doi.org/10.1155/crve/4924170](https://doi.org/10.1155/crve/4924170) Case Report Acute Bacterial Septicemia in a Critically Endangered Roloway Monkey in a Primate Breeding Center at the Accra Zoological Garden, Ghana: A Case Report Richard Suu-Ire , 1 Henry Abugri, 1 Samuel Asumah,2 Richard Abbiw,3 David Turkson,2 Mustapha Ahmed, 1 and Peter Gathumbi 4 1School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana 2 Wildlife Division, Forestry Commission, Accra, Ghana 3 West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana 4Department of Veterinary Pathology Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya Correspondence should be addressed to Richard Suu-Ire; [rdsuu-ire@ug.edu.gh](rdsuu-ire@ug.edu.gh) Received 10 March 2025; Revised 29 October 2025; Accepted 12 November 2025 Academic Editor: Paola Roccabianca Copyright © 2026 Richard Suu-Ire et al. Case Reports in Veterinary Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This case report explains the cause of death of a roloway monkey (Cercopithecus roloway), a critically endangered primate native to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa, that was kept for captive breeding and conservation at the Accra Zoological Garden's primate breeding center in Ghana. Sweetpea, a “15-year-old” female Roloway monkey, was found dead on September 21, 2018, without prior signs of illness. Gross and histopathological ﬁndings revealed acute ﬁbrinous pneumonia, septicemia, and myocardial necrosis, while bacterial culture of lung tissue and thoracic ﬂuid yielded β-hemolytic Streptococcus spp., implicating it as the likely cause of death. Whereas species-level identiﬁcation was not performed due to resource limitations, isolation of this species in pure culture supports its implication in this case, leaning on the published knowledge of its primary role in bacterial septicemia and pneumonia and other soft tissue infections in monkeys, even in captivity. Roloway monkeys (Cercopithecus roloway) are critically endangered primates native to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa. This report describes the sudden death of a 15-year-old female at the Accra Zoological Garden and the subsequent diagnostic investigation, which revealed β-hemolytic Streptococcus [spp. as](spp. as) the causative agent of acute pneumonia and septicemia. This case underscores the need for structured health monitoring in captive breeding programs and highlights veterinary and husbandry measures crucial to conservation eﬀorts. Additionally, a uterine leiomyosarcoma was detected, which may explain Sweetpea's failure to reproduce despite long-term pairing. This case highlights the importance of surveillance for betahemolytic streptococci in captive monkeys, more so the endangered species. Keywords: β-hemolytic Streptococcus; captive breeding; Cercopithecus roloway; endangered primate; Ghana; leiomyosarcoma; pneumonia; septicemia 1. Introduction Roloway monkeys (Cercopithecus roloway) are critically endangered primates native to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa, ranging from southeastern Côte d'Ivoire (from the River Sassandra) to southwestern Ghana [1] . Since 2008, they have consistently featured on the list of the world's 25 most endangered primates [2, 3] . The continued decline of roloway monkeys is driven by illegal pet ownership, hunting, and habitat encroachment, all of which increase the risk of disease transmission and reduce genetic diversity in remaining populations [4–6] . Habitat destruction and encroachment further exacerbate these threats, resulting in a shrinking natural range 2 Case Rep

FAQs

What was the main clinical event described in the case report?

Sweetpea, a 15-year-old female roloway monkey, was found dead in her enclosure without prior signs of illness.

Which findings supported the suspected cause of death?

Gross and histopathological examination showed acute fibrinous pneumonia, septicemia, and myocardial necrosis, and bacterial culture yielded β-hemolytic Streptococcus spp.

What additional condition was detected and how might it relate to breeding?

A uterine leiomyosarcoma was detected, which may explain Sweetpea’s failure to reproduce despite long-term pairing.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia