Steube put it plainly: “This bill is about protecting public health, strengthening accountability, and terminating an outdated trade practice that risks safety at the expense of the American taxpayer.” Titus echoed the sentiment, saying it’s not just humane treatment that matters, but also pivoting toward newer, more accurate, and safer testing methods.

In recent years, U.S. labs have pulled in tens of thousands of primates, largely from supply chains riddled with overcrowding and weak disease controls, especially in countries like China. Such networks often skip proper surveillance, letting pathogens slip by undetected and exposing workers and communities to outbreaks.

The PRIMATE Act lays out clear exceptions for accredited zoos but otherwise bans nonhuman primate imports. Customs officials would step up enforcement, denying illegal shipments and issuing fines up to $50,000 per violation along with the forfeiture of animals that slip through.

Industry experts and advocates, from PETA board members to scientists at George Washington University, back the bill. Actress and advocate, Edie Falco summed up the human side: “For decades, primates have been torn from the wild, shipped around the world, and forced into laboratories, creating serious public health risks along the way. Their importation exposes workers and our communities to dangerous pathogens. This bill is a crucial step toward ending that cruelty and protecting public safety.” Lisa Jones-Engel, PETA’s chief science advisor, calls animal-based research outdated and says newer, human-relevant methods don’t require risky global trafficking.

Doctors and researchers point to data showing that primates can carry shigella, salmonella, herpes B, and other zoonotic diseases. Scientific progress keeps moving toward human-based models that are safer and often more effective for public health. Thomas Gillespie at Emory calls this shift “critical for safeguarding public health and preventing the introduction of emerging infectious diseases,” emphasizing how people, animals, and our ecosystems are all interconnected.

The numbers paint a grim picture: between 2021 and 2024, nearly 100,000 nonhuman primates entered U.S. research labs, often paid for by taxpayers. Recent incidents highlight just how fragile the system is. At a biomedical lab in Immokalee, Florida, multiple primates suffocated after being left in an overheated room, leading to federal violations. In Miami, a monkey ended up at a medical waste facility by mistake, exposing flaws in handling and tracking. Some facility executives now face criminal charges for botching the disposal of primates in biohazard waste.

None of these failures are one-offs. They show systemic gaps in oversight and biosecurity. Disease risks compound when current quarantine protocols fall short. Federal guidance admits that tuberculosis and other infections can slip past during quarantine, meaning infected primates still wind up in research facilities, putting workers and communities in harm’s way.

Steube and Titus want to end these dangers. Their bill puts public safety and modern science first, demanding accountability and a smarter approach to testing and disease prevention.

Click here to read more about the bill.

The post Sarasota’s Rep. Steube Joins Nevada Colleague to Lead Charge Against Lab Primate Trade appeared first on Englewood Review.