Protection of Primate Health in the Wild

WHEREAS many of our primate subjects are already being negatively impacted by human activities that result in destruction of their habitat and fragmentation of their populations; and

WHEREAS the study of primates often involves the close proximity of the subjects, the research workers and their guides; and

WHEREAS very little information is available on the presence of or exposure to infectious disease in wild primate populations; and

WHEREAS evidence suggests that many primate species are susceptible to many of the pathogenic infections that afflict humans and that the transmission of infection can occur in both directions;

The International Primatological Society therefore RECOMMENDS: