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A spontaneous, progressive disease occurred in a large domestic breeding colony of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The disease was characterized by slow but continuous weight loss, alopecia, acne, facial edema, diarrhea and trauma from other monkeys. Breeding efficiency was impaired with a high incidence of abortions and stillbirths. Live offspring were small and unthrifty contributing to a high infant mortality rate. The cause of this disease was polychlorinated biphenyls (PCSs) which were present in the concrete sealant on the cage floors. Removing the sealant and resurfacing the floors alleviated the problem.

Subperiosteal cranial hematomas were observed in five female squirrel monkeys. The absence of trauma in the clinical history, the characteristic clinical changes, and the pathological lesions suggested that the animals were scorbutic. Analysis of feed which was soaked in water, or left on the ground for varying time periods at different temperatures, indicated that there was loss of ascorbic acid. During the manufacture of monkey feed, ascorbic acid is dusted on as a final process. The practice of soaking feed resulted in the "washing off" or the destruction of ascorbic acid. This disease outbreak emphasized the important of management practices in a primate colony.