Monkey Outbreak in PA

On January 21, 2022 a pickup truck with an attached trailer full of 100 monkeys collided
on a highway and the monkeys escaped. The Cynomolgus monkeys that are often used in
various scientific experiments, were on their way to a lab in Florida when they had
suddenly crashed on route 54 in Pennsylvania.

No people had been hurt in the collision but state troopers and wildlife officials had an intense search for the monkeys. They even with a helicopter on standby as they searched through the night Friday and by Saturday only one monkey wasn’t found and according to state
troopers.

“Anyone who sees or locates the monkey is asked not to approach, attempt to
catch, or come in contact with the monkey.”

The Cynomolgus monkeys had been in great demand because they were being used
with vaccination research for COVID-19 in the beginning of the pandemic. At the
beginning of the pandemic scientists even talked about the strategic stockpile of monkeys for
research purposes. The Cynomolgus monkeys were used
because scientists have found them to be 90 to 93% genetically similar to evolutionary
steps in human evolution.

At around 8 o’clock at night on Saturday all of the 100 monkeys had been found and
were transported to the laboratory in Florida safely. On that night the temperatures
had reached freezing and the Pennsylvania Game Commission had found the monkey
before it had reached deadly temperatures.