December 27, 2008Bijay Kumar SinghAnam Nagar, KathmanduNepalTo hom It May Concern:I am writing in support of the appeal to the government to block exports fromcommercial monkey farms to the United States,The exportation of these animals forresearch raises significant scientific, ethical, and public health concerns,There is a broadening consensus in the scientific community that animal models are ofpoor relevance to our understanding of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and otherdiseases,Despite more than twenty-five years of HIV research on nonhuman primates,there is no human vaccine against HIV or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS),Widely used antiretroviral medications used in the treatment of HIV weredeveloped only after animal studies failed and scientists turned to nonanimal methods,such as
in vitro
and
in silico
techniques,Nevertheless, nonhuman primates, includingchimpanzees and macaques infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) orhybrids of SIV and HIV, continue to be used in research.The ongoing use of nonhuman primates is contrary to available scientific evidence,A2008 analysis by Dr. Bailey and colleagues demonstrated that more than 80 AIDSvaccines safe and effective in nonhuman primates subsequently failed in human clinicaltrials,These failures can largely be explained by the profound biological differencesbetween humans and nonhuman primates and HIV and SIV,Biological differences acrossspecies also help explain why nonhuman primates are poor models for neurosciences,mental health, and other infectious diseases research.The use of nonhuman primates in medical research raises serious ethical concerns,Todaythere are an estimated 55,000 to 85,000 nonhuman primates in research laboratories inthe United States,Most of these animals are kept in isolation in traditional steel cages,
Self-injurious behavior, including self-mutilation, commonly occurs in macaques andother nonhuman primates used in laboratory research. Research conducted by mycolleagues and myself has demonstrated that, despite welfare regulations, nonhumanprimates suffer physically and psychologically as a result of their use in research.Finally, the international trade of nonhuman primates raises concerns pertinent toconservation and public health efforts,The conditions associated with capture, breeding,and transport of nonhuman primates contribute to infectious disease transmission and the
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