CDC to End Monkey Research Program

CDC to end monkey research program

By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has directed its staff to stop all monkey research, according to a report published in Science. The decision will affect studies involving some 200 macaques; the fate of the animals is unknown.

The affected monkeys, housed at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, have been used in studies of infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis. The CDC reportedly plans to end its animal research by the end of the year.

“It’s very concerning,” says JoAnne Flynn, distinguished professor and chair of the department of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, who has developed models of tuberculosis in nonhuman primates.

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“In infectious disease, you really have to test things in a system very similar to humans,” she says, noting that primates are only used as animal models in research when other models, like mice or cell cultures, are not effective.

The CDC’s decision comes as other federal agencies have moved to reduce their reliance on animal research since President Donald Trump returned to office in January. Instead of using non-human primate or other animal models, agencies aim to invest more in new cellular and chip-based models.

“CDC is committed to the highest standards of ethical and humane care and to minimizing the use of laboratory animals consistent with the principles of animal welfare in scientific research known as ‘replacement, reduction, and refinement,'” a CDC spokesperson said. Scientific American. “As a long-standing agency practice and consistent with Administration priorities, CDC regularly evaluates its portfolio of research projects, including non-human primate studies, and strives to use non-animal research methods whenever possible, while ensuring research integrity that protects public health and safety.

According to Science, The CDC’s current deputy chief of staff alerted staffers to the decision to end primate research at the agency. And that order reportedly came from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has made reducing animal research part of his Make America Healthy Again agenda.

“I’m concerned that ongoing research at the CDC will be completely disrupted, even if the animals are in the middle of a study. That means we’ve lost a lot of research knowledge,” Flynn says.

However, another primate researcher points out that “studies at the CDC represent a very small proportion of the research underway in the United States today.” [National Institutes of Health–funded] “These other studies will continue because they have been peer-reviewed to justify the experiments, meaning the experiment can only be performed on non-human primates and not in laboratory or other models.”

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