Woman says she has cough, pink eye after contact with lab monkeys in truck crash

[CAPRICORN-88]

Woman says she has cough, pink eye after contact with lab monkeys in truck crash​

Michele Fallon received a rabies shot as well as anti-viral drugs, and was told to quarantine for 31 days

Author of the article:
National Post Staff
Publishing date:
Jan 25, 2022 • Last Updated 1 day ago •

A woman says she is sick after she helped out at the scene of a crash involving a truck transporting 100 monkeys to a lab over the weekend in Pennsylvania.


Michele Fallon was driving behind the truck when she witnessed the collision on Friday. At first, she was unaware that the crates scattered across the highway contained monkeys. She approached a crate, thinking the animals were cats. Then, a monkey hissed at her.

“I thought I was just doing the right thing by helping — I had no idea it would turn out this way,” she told a Pennsylvania news outlet.
Three of the animals, macaques flown to the United States from Mauritius earlier that day, escaped. Police in the area warned the public not to approach any of them in an effort to capture them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they were providing “technical assistance” to the troopers.

By Saturday, the missing monkeys had been accounted for and were euthanized, a CDC spokesperson said in an email. (It was not clear why the three monkeys were euthanized.) However, Fallon said she had developed a cough and the symptoms of pink eye.

Woman says she has cough, pink eye after contact with lab monkeys in truck crash

Michele Fallon received a rabies shot as well as anti-viral drugs, and was told to quarantine for 31 days

nationalpost.com