Woman Exposed to Monkey Saliva at Crash Site Now on Antivirals, USDA Investigating: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
January 24, 2022

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from primate scientist PETA Science Advisor Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, who spoke to an eyewitness who was at the scene of the Pennsylvania truck crash on Friday. This morning, PETA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the agency has just confirmed it has opened an investigation.

PETA has obtained eyewitness information that a woman on the scene of the crash got an eyeful of monkey saliva that has caused a reaction and she is now on antiviral drugs and medication to protect against rabies. Feces and urine from the terrified monkeys were reportedly smeared across the highway as crates—that weren’t strapped in as required—flew from the truck, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should be scrambling to ensure that numerous people who were at the scene aren’t in danger. The monkeys, some likely injured and all surely terrified, remained on the highway in subfreezing temperatures for hours without any protection or veterinary care as onlookers peered into the crates. The importation of monkeys for experimentation has minimal oversight—monkeys arrive by airplane from Asia or Africa, are trucked without adequate oversight to undisclosed quarantine sites, and are then sent out to laboratories across the country. If monkeys develop bloody diarrhea or other symptoms after their quarantine period PETA has learned that no officials are informed and no one seems to care. For the safety of ALL animals, the U.S. must stop pretending that experiments on monkeys are useful and stop importing them.

For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.