US authorities are continuing to allow imports of long-tailed macaques from Cambodia, despite revelations that deadly pathogenic agents, including one deemed to be a bioterrorism risk, are entering the country with primates and recent charges of illegal trafficking of wild macaques falsely labeled as captive-bred into the US biomedical industry from Cambodia.
Animal rights campaigners are urging the US government to stop the “cruel trade”, saying it’s impossible to prove provenance and that the risk of disease is significant.
“The monkey trafficking trade is a substantive threat to public health, it’s only a matter of time before a recognized or novel pathogen sparks a new pandemic. The CDC is meant to be protecting the public, not bringing diseases into the country, jeopardizing public health,” said primatologist Dr Lisa Jones-Engel.
Sources confirm that 720 long-tailed macaques were transported on a Maleth-Aero flight leaving Cambodia on 28 December and arriving in Dulles, Washington, a day later. About 360 primates were then transported by road to Charles River Laboratories in Houston, a large US importer and user of primates.
It’s unclear where the remaining 360 macaques were transported to.
Charles River has previously stated that they may import animals “carrying infectious agents capable of causing disease in humans”. Charles River did not respond to requests for comment.
Documents obtained by Peta and revealed by the Guardian showed highly pathogenic agents entered the US with monkeys imported from Asia between 2018 and 2021, including at least six cases of Burkholderia pseudomallei in macaques from Cambodia.
B Pseudomallei causes melioidosis, a rare but fatal disease in humans and is a tier 1 select agent with potential as a bioterrorism weapon. B Pseudomallei was, for the first time ever, detected in soil and water in Mississippi in 2022.
In November, the US Department of Justice charged two Cambodian officials, including Cambodia’s second-highest-ranking wildlife official, Masphal Kry, and the owner of Vanny Bio-Research, a Cambodian macaque supplier, with illegal trafficking of wild macaques into the US research industry.

Theguardian