The following information is from Children’s Health Defense.

Four Rhesus macaques monkeys remain missing after 43 escaped from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, South Carolina, on Nov. 6. The facility has a history of safety and security breaches and “has come under intense scrutiny,” according to ABC News, including calls for a congressional investigation. 

The escape has raised concerns about public health risks, the facility’s history of lax security, and the primates’ use in biowarfare and vaccine research.

Alpha Genesis, which has received over $109 million in federal funding, is deeply involved in vaccine and therapeutic drug research. The company received seven COVID-19-related contracts totaling $8.91 million in 2020, including preclinical COVID-19 vaccine testing. Rhesus macaques, a species genetically and physiologically similar to humans, were used to test the vaccines’ effects and safety.

Critics argue such testing blurs the line between public health and biowarfare. Francis Boyle, a bioweapons expert and author of the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, said primates play a key role in research designed to develop and test biological warfare weapons.

“COVID-19 is a primary case in point, COVID-19 is an offensive biological warfare weapon with gain-of-function properties that leaked out of China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. Then, using this experimental mRNA biotechnology, the ‘scientists’ produced an experimental ‘vaccine’ that is neither safe nor effective but existentially dangerous to human beings.”

Francis Boyle, J.D., Ph.D, Bioweapons Expert

Experts warn that the escaped monkeys could carry zoonotic diseases such as  Herpes B virus, which has an 80% fatality rate in humans, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Transmission through bites, scratches, or contact with infected bodily fluids poses a serious risk to nearby communities.

Labs like Alpha Genesis have faced increased scrutiny and calls for a federal investigation due to recurring safety lapses and inadequate containment. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) urged federal oversight and demanded the lab disclose whether the escaped monkeys carried dangerous pathogens, stating, “South Carolinians shouldn’t bear the risk of this lab’s negligence.” 

Advocates have echoed these concerns, citing reports of sick animals and improper containment practices. Bioweapons expert Francis Boyle emphasized, “The community deserves answers from a scientific inspection agency, not the conflicted USDA.”

For more information, read the full article here.