PA Lab Monkeys Missing After Crash: Latest Details

DANVILLE, PA — Three monkeys that went missing Friday following a vehicle accident in Montour County were located over the weekend but had to be euthanized.

Pennsylvania State Police confirmed in a report that the cynomolgus macaque monkeys were located after a dump truck collided with a tractor trailer along Route 54 just off Interstate 80 near Danville. The tractor trailer was transporting about 100 of the monkeys to a laboratory.

Two of the missing monkeys were located on Friday. The third was found Saturday after the Pennsylvania Game Commission and other agencies searched for the animal in frigid conditions.

Kristin Nordlund of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Associated Press that the three monkeys that escaped were humanely euthanized according to American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines. She did not indicate why the animals had to be put down.

According to police, the shipment of monkeys was bound for a CDC-approved quarantine facility after arriving in New York Friday from Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation.

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