Recommendations for health monitoring of non-human primate colonies

Biomedical research has a need to use non-human primates in cases where no other species offer the specific scientific information required or the necessary predictability of results for the development of medicines and vaccines. Biomedical research institutions would prefer purpose-bred animals of known history with an amount of background information necessary for an unbiased interpretation of findings from animal experiments. It is also anticipated that the microbiological status of such animals is easier to define and to control and better than that of animals from other sources.