Scientists, MDs Warn of Hidden Public Threat, Urge State to Track Diseases in Primate Labs

For Immediate Release:
June 1, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

With the Washington State Board of Health set to vote Thursday on a petition to require reporting of infectious diseases identified in captive primates, physicians, scientists, and animal advocates will attend and present a statue of a monkey signed by 30,000 supporters of the initiative. They will also hold a giant banner reading, “Washington Board of Health: Track Contagious Diseases in Monkey Labs.”

• Where: The Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 South Post Street, Spokane
• When: Thursday, June 4, 9 a.m.

The first-of-its-kind petition for rulemaking, submitted in April by PETA, Seattle-based Northwest Animal Rights Network, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine—collectively representing more than 155,000 members and supporters in Washington state—would require mandatory reporting of contagious diseases detected in primates used for experimentation. If adopted, the rule would enable state agencies to track, assess, and respond to these risks as part of Washington’s broader disease monitoring system.

Across Washington, monkeys are kept in laboratories where known infectious diseases can circulate. Yet these facilities have not been required to notify the state of pathogens in monkeys that would have to be reported in humans. This is in part because the Washington State Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have treated the issue as falling outside their respective mandates—leaving no agency responsible for tracking this known risk.

Monkey caged at the Washington National Primate Research Center. Image obtained through a public records request by PETA.

“This is a basic surveillance issue, and it has serious public health implications,” said PETA Chief Science Advisor on Primate Experimentation Dr. Lisa Jones‑Engel. “Excluding known infectious diseases in animals with routine human contact from reporting requirements creates a gap in public health protection.”

PETA uncovered documents showing numerous cases of infectious disease at the University of Washington’s primate facilities and its breeding facility in Arizona, which frequently sends monkeys to Seattle. Pathogens circulating at the university’s facilities include Shigella, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Salmonella, and Giardia—all of which must be reported to the state Department of Health when identified in humans because they easily spread. Monkeys weren’t deliberately infected for experiments. The infections were unintended and the institution has apparently been unable or unwilling to control them.

The primate facilities are housed in buildings physically integrated with the university’s hospital, with shared hallways, infrastructure, and staff movement between the two.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.