Monkeys used in laboratories infected with tuberculosis? We call on the authorities!
According to information gathered by our international collective, made up of Abolición Vivisección, Action for Primates, Cheshire Animal Rights Campaigns, Monkey Massacre in Mauritius, One Voice and PeTA, in April 2023, France alerted the Dutch authorities to a case of tuberculosis in a monkey imported into Europe via the Netherlands. Several dozen macaques subsequently tested positive… In addition to the health risks this situation poses for humans, it illustrates once again the terrible fate of animals exploited in experimentation centers. We formally call on the authorities to shed full light on the risk of the disease spreading!
In France, how many macaques are contaminated by tuberculosis in laboratories?
Every year, almost 10,000 individuals are shipped from Mauritius to be exploited in centers from which they will never leave. From capture to death, their lives are a living hell, as we showed in our investigation of the island’s breeding farms, which are partly financed with public money. At the end of 2023, a Mauritian farm won a CNRS invitation to tender for no less than 10 million euros.
Disastrous living conditions are compounded by disease. We alerted public opinion to the tuberculosis epidemic – which had spread as far as Michigan (USA) in the Charles River laboratories and was rampant in the Mauritian breeding farm BioCulture Ltd, leading to mass slaughtering of up to 200 animals a day. These inhumane practices failed to halt the spread of the bacterium – quite the contrary.
In April 2023, the French government sent a report to the NVWA (Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) on a tuberculosis infection in macaques. Tests subsequently confirmed that several dozen macaques were infected…
Suffering for monkeys … and tuberculosis for humans?
The risk of a domino effect is high, as the disease is extremely contagious and can be transmitted from animals to humans. All this is facilitated by overcrowded conditions that encourage contamination. We have contacted the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Research to obtain full information on the current state of the disease. Over and above what the monkeys are suffering in the laboratories, public health is at stake!
At a time when more than 8 out of 10 French people are in favor of developing alternatives to animal experimentation (IPSOS/One Voice poll, April 2023), help us say stop to the import, trade and use of long-tailed macaques in French laboratories by signing our petition!