CDC Shuts Down Monkey Labs Amid Tuberculosis "Time Bomb" Fears

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will end all nonhuman-primate research conducted at its own facilities, marking the first time since the National Institutes of Health retired its chimpanzees in 2015 that a major federal health agency has fully shuttered an in-house monkey program, Science reports.

The decision affects roughly 200 macaques currently housed at the CDC’s Atlanta campus. A CDC spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the agency is developing a wind-down plan but declined to provide a specific timeline or details on the fate of the animals.

The move follows years of criticism from animal-welfare groups and some scientists who argue that monkey models have produced limited translational value, particularly in HIV vaccine development, where decades of primate studies have yet to yield a licensed product. The CDC cited both ethical considerations and a strategic pivot to human-relevant alternatives, including organ-on-a-chip platforms, advanced cell cultures, and computational models, as factors in the decision.

Separately, the CDC has grappled with biosecurity incidents involving imported primates. Internal data reviewed by PETA show that between 2021 and 2024, quarantine screening identified 69 cases of tuberculosis in incoming macaques, with an additional 16 cases detected after animals had been released to laboratories.

“PETA has warned the CDC since 2022 that its monkey import pipeline is a ticking TB time bomb,” said Dr. Jones-Engel. “Yet its willful blindness has allowed a known biosecurity threat to pour into the U.S. We urge the CDC to end the importation of monkeys to laboratories—for public safety, scientific integrity, and the primates themselves.”

The phase-out aligns with broader federal efforts to reduce animal testing.

Signed in 2022, the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act 2.0 removed the mandate for animal testing before human trials, while the NIH, EPA, and FDA have all expanded funding for non-animal approaches.

“This move is historic. For the first time, a U.S. agency is choosing modern, human-relevant science over a failed system of monkey experiments,” said Janine McCarthy, acting director of research policy for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "Now, the CDC should use that funding to transition to human-relevant research and to ensure that these monkeys are sent to sanctuaries for the remainder of their lives.”

“The CDC just sent a message to the entire biomedical establishment: The era of monkey experimentation is over,” McCarthy added.