In a seismic victory for animals and science, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced it will phase out all cruel experiments on monkeys in its laboratory, ending a practice that failed to produce a marketable HIV vaccine despite four decades of trying while putting public health at risk through a disease ridden pipeline of infected endangered macaques. PETA, which fought relentlessly for this long overdue move, held a press conference in August 2025 releasing a report that revealed the true scope of the tuberculosis threat, highlighting a CDC study confirming that from 2021 to 2024, 69 tuberculosis cases were detected while monkeys were in quarantine and another 16 after they were shipped to laboratories. The CDC’s own data painted a disturbing picture of monkeys arriving infected with tuberculosis, melioidosis, and other dangerous pathogens through a reckless supply chain riddled with escapes, disease lapses, and repeated regulatory failures that finally forced the system to confront the truth.
Beyond the failed science and public health risks, the experiments subjected macaques to unimaginable cruelty, as these social emotional animals who naturally form lifelong bonds, nurture their young, and roam miles through lush forests each day were instead confined to laboratories where they starved, choked to death on their own vomit, were mauled by other stressed monkeys, and died in other horrific ways while experimenters tormented and killed them in tests. PETA is now calling on the administration to build on this incredible breakthrough by shutting down the National Primate Research Centers, ending the monkey import pipeline that repeatedly undermines biosecurity and conservation efforts, and moving every federal agency toward modern human relevant science. The historic decision proves that mounting evidence, relentless advocacy, and public pressure can force even long established government programs to acknowledge when their methods aren’t delivering results, protecting both endangered species and advancing toward an animal free scientific future that actually serves human health instead of perpetuating a dangerous, deadly, and utterly failed experimentation industry that should have ended decades ago.
