A prominent animal rights group asked U.S. authorities to investigate leading medical research labs for allegedly violating federal law after finding dozens of instances where nearly 2,000 monkeys were shipped between facilities without required veterinary inspections.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals cited documents obtained from several state agencies that indicated timely inspections did not take place before or after the monkeys were shipped across state lines. These documents must be completed no more than 10 days before monkeys are delivered. Carriers may only accept monkeys for shipping if they are accompanied by a valid veterinary inspection certificates.
The purpose for these examinations is to detect any infectious diseases that the monkeys, which are used for testing medicines, may harbor as they move along the primate supply chain. PETA noted that monkeys infected with have tuberculosis, West Nile virus, malaria, Chagas disease, salmonellosis, herpes B, and other conditions that can be transmitted to human have been transported across the U.S.
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