Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been told to cease monkey research, according to a report from Science. The directive was issued to agency staff by a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee.
The monkeys, primarily used in HIV studies, are expected to be transferred to animal sanctuaries or be euthanized.
The CDC told Science in an email that it “regularly evaluates its research project portfolio including non-human primate studies and strives to use non-animal research methods whenever feasible.”
Meanwhile, White Coat Waste Project, a group pushing for the end of animal testing, celebrated the report. “This is another historic White Coat Waste victory — and we couldn’t be prouder to have worked with the Trump Administration to cut CDC’s government monkey business. Secretary Kennedy has now delivered on his promise to work with White Coat Waste by completely shutting down the CDC’s primate labs, where hundreds of victims were infected with smallpox, hemorrhagic fevers, hepatitis, and HIV-like viruses at taxpayer expense,” said White Coat Waste Project President and Founder Anthony Bellotti.
Earlier this year, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya announced that the agency shuttered its last in-house beagle labs.
Bhattacharya said during an interview with Fox & Friends Weekend, “It’s very easy, for instance, to cure Alzheimer’s in mice. But those things don’t translate to humans. So we put forward a policy to replace animals in research with technological advances, AI and other tools, that actually translate better to human health.”
“We got rid of all of the beagle experiments on NIH campus,” he declared.
