USDA to ‘look into’ treatment of lab monkeys at Pa. crash site

Police: Truck with 100 monkeys crashes, some of them missing

Crates holding live monkeys are collected next to the trailer they were being transported in along state Route 54 at the intersection with Interstate 80 near Danville, Pennsylvania.Jimmy May/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP

DANVILLE – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigate the treatment of lab monkeys involved in a Friday accident near Danville.

And, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the three primates that escaped were euthanized by gunshot.

Those were the developments Tuesday in the aftermath of the accident that involved a trailer transporting 100 cynomolgus macaques to a quarantine facility.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) by letter asked for an investigation the treatment of monkeys.

A USDA spokesperson would say only the agency is aware of the letter from Alka Chandna, vice president laboratory investigations cases for PETA.

However, PennLive has obtained a copy of message to Chandna from Dr. Robert M. Gibbens, a veterinarian who is director of USDA’s animal welfare operations, that states: “We’ll log this as a complaint and look into it.”

The handling and treatment of monkeys before, during and after the collision may constitute violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and animal welfare regulations, Chandna wrote.

The CDC confirmed the three monkeys that escaped when a crate broke open were shot to death. State police did not respond to requests for details.

The three got loose when the pickup truck pulling the trailer collided with a large dump truck on Route 54 at the Interstate 80 interchange shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.

Crates containing monkeys were strewn about the roadway after the front panel on the trailer broke off.

The cynomolgus macaques had arrived Friday morning at New York’s JFK Airport from Mauritus, an island off the African coast.

They were headed to an unnamed approved quarantine facility. Imported primates are required to be quarantined for 30 days after their arrival in the United States.

Attempts to reach Jeffrey Quebedeaux, owner of Quebedeauxs Transport, LLC, of Arnaudville, Louisiana, that was transporting the primates were unsuccessful.

Those who came in contact with the primates or the crates following the accident have been advised to see their medical provider.

Lab monkeys missing after Pa. crash

Game Commission Officers pull up as Pennsylvania State Troopers prepare to look for several monkeys which escaped from their crates after the trailer which they were being transported in was involved in a crash on state Route 54 and Interstate 80 near Danville, Pennsylvania, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Jimmy May/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP)AP

Geisinger Medical Center, also near Danville, has seen people who were at the accident scene but a spokesman said that due to privacy regulations he cannot discuss any specific details.

The CDC has regulations in place to protect U.S. residents from severe infections that can spread from monkeys to humans.

These infections include viral hemorrhagic fevers, monkeypox, gastrointestinal diseases, yellow fever, simian immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis.

The regulations include:

  • Workers handling crates or pallets containing the animals must wear elbow-length, reinforced leather or equivalent gloves, outer protective clothing, waterproof shoes or boots, respiratory protection and face shields or eye protection.
  • Those whose faces may come within 5 feet of a primate must wear disposable approved N95 respirators and either face shields or eye protection.
  • Disposable personal protection equipment must be discarded as a biohazard.
  • Workers must not drink, eat or smoke while physically handling the monkeys or their cages, crates or other materials.
  • During transport, crates containing the primates must be separated by a physical barrier from individuals, other animals and cargo or by a spatial barrier greater than five feet.
  • Ground transport vehicle cargo compartments must be large enough to allow safe stowage of crates in a manner that allows ready access to each monkey during transit without unloading any of them.
  • Monkeys and other nonhuman primates may not be imported as pets under any circumstance.

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