Research monkeys died from overheating in Nevada lab

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Thirty-two research monkeys quarantined at a lab in Nevada were accidentally killed in May due to overheating, the Associated Press reports.

Officials for the Massachusetts-based Charles River Laboratories confirmed today, for the first time, the May 28 incident at its lab in Sparks.

The company said the death of the 32 long-tailed macaques in a single room of its quarantine facility was caused by human error in the operation of the room’s climate control. No other primates at the facility were injured, the statement said.

The company told the Associated Press that it self-reported the incident immediately to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The monkeys were to be used for pharmaceutical research, the statement said.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta