Just as the Danville monkey chaos came to an end, other questions have arisen..
The local affiliate even had a statement from the CDC : According to a CDC spokesperson, the monkeys were en route to a CDC-approved quarantine facility after landing Friday morning in New York. They are originally from Mauritius, a country in eastern Africa…
Police say the driver who was transporting the monkeys was charged in the crash. Perhaps one reason why is the truck itself.. As showcased by this photo taken by Jimmy May of the Press Enterprise, it didn’t look so sturdy to begin with:
There have been a smattering of questions as to why the monkeys were “painlessly” killed after capture. But one other point is raising eyebrows, as reprted by WNEP:
Friday night Newswatch 16 spoke with Michelle Fallon of Danville, who saw the entire accident. She jumped into action; helping both drivers and the loads they were carrying. “I walk up back on the hill and this guy tells me, ‘Oh, he’s hauling cats. I said, ‘oh.’ So I go over to look in the crate and there’s this green cloth over it. So I peel it back, I stick my finger in there and go ‘kitty, kitty.’ It pops its head up and it’s a monkey,” Fallon said. Fallon was contacted Saturday by the CDC and was told to monitor herself for any cold-like symptoms. She shared the letter from the CDC with Newswatch 16; it reads in part that, “the surviving monkeys will be quarantined and will be monitored for infectious diseases for at least 31 days before their release.”
There were copies of actual letter was printed on Facebook by the page Coal Region Discontent. According to that page, Michelle Fallon sent a message along with copies of both state Department of Health and CDC letters that she received.
According to the information, it appears that the health experts are attempting to utilize the Pennsylvania State Police to track down other motorists who may have been exposed to either the monkeys themselves or were near their waste products..
MONKEY SEE MONKEY DON’T
As reported previously, this story garnered both national and global headlines due to the oddities of the facts involved. But it must be frightening for those now facing potential health consequences from the interaction–consequences not being publicly released and the rationale for the fear not either.
At this time, all of the 100 monkeys are accounted for–this publicly stated by Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We are also being told this by public pronouncements: The shipment of monkeys was en route to a CDC-approved quarantine facility after arriving Friday morning at New York’s Kennedy Airport from Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation, police said. The Atlanta-based CDC said the agency was providing “technical assistance” to state police in Pennsylvania.
It would seem a little weird that the shipment was sent to New York City and then was going to be driven on a cross country tour down the entire eastern seaboard by flimsy truck. Not the most economic of venues when one would thing a flight from Mauritius to Florida looks to be pretty cheap! And if you argue that one isn’t safe, check out that truck again.
And finally, the BUAV, now Cruelty Free International, did a study several years ago on the monkey capture and trade process from the nation of Mauritius that seems appropriate to revisit in light of the Danville intrigue.. For your review:
