Panic in the U.S. after lab-bound Mauritian monkeys escape during accident

Several American organisations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have reportedly been on high alert since several monkeys escaped after the truck that was carrying them to a laboratory met with a serious accident on Saturday.

According to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), a hundred monkeys had just arrived in New York from a breeding farm in Mauritius.

“They had not been quarantined, and their health status was unknown. Monkeys can carry lethal pathogens that spread through their saliva, blood, faeces, and urine,” it said when the news of the accident went viral.

“Photos taken at the site of the Pennsylvania monkey crash reveal a worrying lack of biosecurity—people dragging boxes barehanded, motorists sticking their faces into crates.”

From four of the long-tailed macaque monkeys who got away, one is said to be still missing and it “may be harbouring viruses that are transmissible to humans” – PETA warned.

“There is no way to ensure that monkeys are virus-free, and state veterinary and other records uncovered by PETA show that monkeys in laboratories in the U.S. have been found with tuberculosis, Chagas disease, cholera, and MRSA.

A 2020 pathology report uncovered by PETA had shown that shortly after clearing Centers for Disease Control quarantine, one monkey from Mauritius arrived at the University of Washington infected with giardia and campylobacter. Approximately two months later, before being used in an experiment, the monkey developed bloody diarrhea of unknown origin. The young long tailed macaque was eventually killed when he became too sick.

In 1989, monkeys infected with an unknown strain of the Ebola virus landed at a facility owned by Hazleton Laboratories (later known as Covance and now Envigo) in Reston, VA. Four people became ill before all the monkeys were killed and the lab shut down.

It happened again in 1996, that time in Texas. Shipping monkeys and other animals to torment and ultimately kill them is dangerous—for everyone. But that hasn’t stopped companies that experiment on animals from continuing to engage in the practice.

“The industry that claims to be developing vaccines and treatments for human diseases not only fails to deliver results from animal-based experimentation, but also cruelly abuses and wastes the lives of sensitive monkeys and poses health risks to the general public by failing to safely contain the animals they use,” PETA claimed.

Meanwhile, residents of a Pennsylvania county have been not to approach the Mauritian monkey.

The Baltimore Sun cited State police as urging people not to look for or capture the cynomolgus macaque monkey.

“Anyone who sees or locates the monkey is asked not to approach, attempt to catch, or come in contact with the monkey. Please call 911 immediately,” troopers tweeted. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the agency was providing “technical assistance” to state police.

“The location of the lab and the type of research for which the monkeys were destined weren’t clear, but cynomolgus monkeys are often used in medical studies” the Baltimore Sun reported.

Troopers are currently said to be searching for the missing monkey, rifles in hand, while local firefighters are said to be using thermal imaging to try to locate the animal, with the support of a helicopter.

Edited from several U.S. publications and PETA statement.