CDC reportedly ordered to end taxpayer-funded monkey research

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been ordered to end all research on primates, according to a new report that marks a major new step in the Trump administration’s effort to end taxpayer-funded animal research.

The news was reported by Science, which said shutting down an entire line of in-house primate research like this was unprecedented.

The outlet said the order came from Sam Beyda, a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer who is now deputy chief of staff at the CDC. He said he was acting under the authority of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Plans to shut down the research are in the works.

White Coat Waste Project, which pushes for an end to taxpayer-funded testing, saw the decision as a major victory.

“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 Anthony Bellotti, the group’s president.

CDC, in a statement, didn’t confirm or deny the end to monkey testing, but said it is “committed to the highest standards of ethical and humane care” and “minimizing the use of laboratory animals.”

“As a part of long-standing agency practice and in alignment with the administration’s priorities, CDC regularly evaluates its research project portfolio including non-human primate studies and strives to use non-animal research methods whenever feasible, while ensuring the integrity of research that protects public health and safety,” the agency said.

Animal testing raises tricky questions about morality, cost and efficacy.

One wing of the argument says there aren’t viable alternatives, and the human health experiments based on animal testing will suffer as a result of shutdowns. CDC’s primates have been used in research on drugs to combat HIV, for example.

Others say progress on alternatives to animal testing stalls when there aren’t firm deadlines and leaders are pressing for an end to the practice.

The Environmental Protection Agency this year announced plans to retire rats and fish it had been using for experiments at its lab in North Carolina.

And the National Institutes of Health said in April it would promote nonanimal approaches to testing. A month later, NIH closed its in-house lab where it conducted tests on beagles.

Science said some CDC researchers are pushing for a phaseout of the money research, hoping to finish existing projects.

But the outlet said Mr. Beyda has signaled a fast shutdown, including trying to find homes for the monkeys once they are retired.