Bringing it All Back Home?

Data from the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed 6 cases of infection with Burkhalderia pseudomallei in primates, imported to the US from Cambodia. B. pseudomallei is endemic to South-East Asia, where it causes meliodosis, a rare disease, with a circa 50% human death rate. This micro-organism is classified as having the potential to be a 'bioterrorism agent' (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/18/monkeys-imported-us-from-cambodia-carried-deadly-pathogens). There are fears that primate imports (for medical research) could introduce a variety of other deadly pathogens to the US. Predictably, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organisation, is calling for a complete ban on the importation, for laboratory use, of non-human primates into the US. This would, of course, restrict some areas of medical research, including studies on zoonotic bacteria and viruses. It's, however, essential that inadvertent introduction of pathogens via this route is avoided. Monitoring imports and captive breeding in the US seem the best ways of stopping such transmission.