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United States: On-The-Lam Monkey Raises Fears Over Proposed Laboratory The recent escape of a research monkey from a University of California at Davis facility has raised concerns among area residents about the security of a proposed Biosafety Level 4 laboratory the university is seeking to build, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, July 18, 2002). The 2-year old female rhesus macaque, which was to be used for breeding purposes, escaped the California National Primate Research Center Feb. 13 when handlers were cleaning cages. The macaque went behind the cages, and the center’s employees reported hearing a slurping sound, as if the monkey had went down a small drain, according to the AP. A search of the center’s plumbing using fiber-optic cameras, however, failed to find the monkey. In the 41 years that the primate center has been in operation, 82 monkeys have been able to escape and enjoy life on the outside before being quickly captured or return voluntarily, said UC-Davis spokeswoman Lisa Lapin. The primate center would supply research animals to the proposed laboratory, for which UC-Davis submitted a grant application this month to the National Institutes of Health. The at-large monkey is disease-free because the primate center raises research animals for Biosafety Level 2 and 3 diseases, which have treatments available, university officials said. They added that the monkey would not have been able to break out of the proposed laboratory, which would employ armed guards. Still, area residents who oppose the Biosafety Level 4 facility said the escape raised questions about the proposed laboratory’s security. “If they can’t manage these monkeys when they’ve got level two and three diseases, how will they manage monkeys with level four diseases?” said Joshua English. California National Primate Research Center Director Dallas Hyde said the security levels between the primate center and the proposed laboratory would be very different. “Animals that go in there don’t come out alive,” he said (Brian Melley, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 23).
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