A possible animal model of naturally occurring multinodular goitre in the Nilgiris of southern India.

The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025729X 4/18 December 2006 185 11/12 677-677 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 2006 www.mja.com.au Christmas Offerings in Nilgiri rhesus monkeys is the result of low iodine mountain environment. Further investigation is necessa the exact reason for the goitre. A literature search failed to identify any studies of end humans living in the Nilgiri region, although a 200 issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu states that goi in some of its districts. Tamil Nadu has been aggress nti rie wo U. l recently, iodine deficiency had been prevalent for centus in a number of landlocked mountainous regions of the rld. The Himalayan region and the Bernese region of Switzerland were especially known for severe endemic goitre as a result of this deficiency. Since the 1920s, the prevalence of goitre has fallen with the widespread use of iodised table salt. Many different human and animal inborn errors of metabolism can cause congenital goitre. It has been shown to occur in animals such as Syrian hamsters, bongo antelopes, Dutch goats, Afrikander cattle, merino sheep, mice, fox terriers, pigs, Abyssinian cats, and horses. However, we could not find any studies reporting congenital goitre in monkeys. Here we report multinodular goitre occurring in wild rhesus monkeys in the Nilgiris (Blue Mountains) in the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India (Box). It is possible that these animals developed goitre because of a genetic defect. However, research has shown that livestock can develop iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs) due to an iodine-deficient diet, and may require the addition of iodised salt to their food. Thus it is possible that the multinodular goitre observed levels in their ry to establish