Airsacculitis in the baboon.

A baboon (Papio anubis) that had been given opiate compounds through an indwelling catheter developed mucopurulent airsacculitis. After a prolonged course, the infection was eventually controlled by medical and surgical means. Air-sac involvement, though rarely reported in nonhuman primates, appeared frequently in the group of baboons to which this subject belonged--all of which were being treated experimentally with opiates. Proposed explanations for this unusual incidence included the propensity of opiates to induce a histamine response, almost continuous contamination of pathogenic bacteria in the indwelling catheters, and a suggested anatomic predisposition of the baboon larynx to drain secretions into the air sac.