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Despite significant progress in reducing the incidence of tuberculosis in nonhuman primates (NHPs) maintained in captivity, outbreaks continue to occur in established colonies, with potential serious consequences in human exposures, animal losses, disruption of research, and costs related to disease control efforts. The intradermal tuberculin skin test (TST) using mammalian old tuberculin (MOT) has been the mainstay of NHP tuberculosis surveillance and antemortem diagnosis for more than 60 years. But limitations of the TST, particularly its inability to reliably identify animals with latent TB infections, make it unsuitable for use as a single, standalone test for TB surveillance in nonhuman primates in the 21st century. Advances in technology and the availability of Mycobacterium spp. genomic sequence data have facilitated the development and evaluation of new immune-based screening assays as possible adjuncts and alternatives to the TST, including in vitro whole blood assays that measure the release of interferon gamma in response to stimulation with tuberculin or specific mycobacterial antigens, and assays that detect antibodies to highly immunogenic secreted proteins unique to M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, and other species belonging to the M. tuberculosis complex. It is becoming apparent that no single screening test will meet all the requirements for surveillance and diagnosis of tuberculosis in nonhuman primates. Instead, the use of several tests in combination can increase the overall sensitivity and specificity of screening and surveillance programs and likely represents the future of TB testing in nonhuman primates. In this article we describe the characteristics of these newer screening tests and discuss their potential contributions to NHP tuberculosis surveillance programs.

Specific pathogen-free (SPF) macaque colonies are now requested frequently as a resource for research. Such colonies were originally conceived as a means to cull diseased animals from research-dedicated colonies, with the goal of eliminating debilitating or fatal infectious agents from the colony to improve the reproductive capacity of captive research animals. The initial pathogen of concern was Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb.), recognized for many years as a pathogen of nonhuman primates as well as a human health target. More recently attention has focused on four viral pathogens as the basis for an SPF colony: simian type D retrovirus (SRV), simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), simian T cell lymphotropic/leukemia virus (STLV), and Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1 (CHV-1). New technologies, breeding, and maintenance schemes have emerged to develop and provide SPF primates for research. In this review we focus on the nonhuman primates (NHPs) most common to North American NHP research facilities, Asian macaques, and the most common current research application of these animals, modeling of human AIDS.