Category: – South Carolina

YEMASSEE, S.C. (WCSC) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture finalized a warning against a Yemassee-based research facility where 22 monkeys died back in November.

The deaths happened at Alpha Genesis, the same facility from which 43 rhesus macaque monkeys escaped in November of 2024.

The deaths were blamed on carbon monoxide exposure from a heating unit. The USDA’s warning sites a regulation on outdoor housing facilities for primates, which states “outdoor housing facilities for nonhuman primates must provide adequate shelter from the elements at all times. It must provide protection from the sun, rain, snow, wind, and cold, and from any weather conditions that may occur. The shelter must safely provide heat to the nonhuman primates to prevent the ambient temperature from falling below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, except as directed by the attending veterinarian and in accordance with generally accepted professional and husbandry practices.”

The warning, issued on July 2, states Alpha Genesis “failed to safely provide heat to nonhuman primates.”

A USDA inspection held on Dec. 9 reported that an Alpha Genesis employee conducting routine evening rounds on Nov. 22 found multiple monkeys “down” in a field cage.

“Ultimately, 22 animals died, with necropsy and histopathology findings consistent with exposure to carbon monoxide gas,” the warning states.

The warning also states that if the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service finds evidence of any future violation, it may pursue sanctions that could include criminal prosecution.

At the time of the inspection, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard described the heating unit as one that might be used in someone’s garage and said it had been tested and retested and was in perfect working order.

“”At this point we’re just trying to understand what happened to come up with a logical explanation with how this occurred,” he said in December.

USDA issues official warning against Beaufort County facility in monkey deaths