The NENPRC houses rhesus monkeys, cynomolgus monkeys,
marmosets, aotus monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and cotton-top tamarins. The
overall colony size began the year at 1705 primates and ended the year at
1749. Essentially, the size of the colony did not change in any meaningful
way.
The colony of cotton-top tamarins did not change in
size. 22 tamarins were born, and 22 died. The center started the year with
1062 rhesus macaques, there were 92 live births, 127 died in
experimentation, 17 died of natural causes, and 48 came to the center from
outside sources – resulting in an ending population of 1056. 8 aotus
monkeys began the year at the center one died during experimentation,
leaving 7 at the end of the year. 60 squirrel monkeys started the year at
the center. 12 were added to the population from outside sources, 15 died
during experimentation, leaving 57 at the end of the year.
Similar trends existed in other species at the center,
population tables are attached to this report as appendices.
Potentially the most significant finding came in the
marmoset colony. 323 marmosets started the year at NENPRC. 5 marmosets
were born during the year. 222 more marmosets were brought in from outside
sources. 15 marmosets died during experimentation. However, 148 died of
disease or other non-experimental causes. The majority of these deaths
from disease came in the experimental colony of marmosets. This colony
began the year with only 145 with 39 being added during the year. 15 died
during experimentation and another 144 died of disease, leaving only 16 at
the end of the year. In other words, 80% of this colony died of disease
during the year. This is an outrageous level of death from disease, and
must draw the veterinary care at the NENPRC into question.
Overall, 417 primates died at the center during the last
reporting year, or approximately 1 out of every 5. At least, the pathology
section of the report lists 417 post mortem workups (necropsies) being
done on center primates. This may be cause for concern because the colony
tables list only 368 deaths. This is a discrepancy of 49 primates.
The successful birth rate at the NENPRC is also a cause
for concern. The progress report lists 119 live births. The report also
lists post mortem workups on 144 neonatal/aborted primates, which could
indicate an infant mortality rate of 55%. This information can be broken
down further. 5 marmosets, 92 rhesus macaques, and 22 tamarins were born.
However, the same report lists post mortem reports for 17 rhesus macaques,
47 tamarins, and 80 marmosets – all in the neonatal/abortion category.
These statistics may indicate a very high rate of abortions/stillbirths.
This could be the source of the 49 primate discrepancy listed above. There
may have been 49 naturally occurring abortions at the primate center. If
this is the case then there were 168 total pregnancies at the center. All
that can be said for certain is that young primates do not survive at
NENPRC.
The bacteriological lab at NENPRC diagnosed the presence
of many very pathogenic bacteria within the primates. Staphylococcus
bacteria was isolated 233 times from center primates. Other pathogenic
bacteria were also isolated: E. coli – 318, and Streptococcus was isolated
238 times. As many as 45% of the center’s final population could have been
positive for one of these pathogenic bacteria.
