Chimpanzees once used for vaccine research get health checks as part of long-term care

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A group of chimpanzees once used in laboratory hepatitis B vaccine experiments has received health checks at their new home in Liberia, in hopes of giving them a second chance at a normal life.

The West African chimpanzees received checks ranging from teeth cleaning to X-rays and pedicures at the Humane World for Animals’ Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge in central Liberia, Liliana Pacheco Ricote, director of the sanctuary, told The Associated Press.

More than 400 of the chimpanzees had been used by American researchers in Liberia in the hepatitis B vaccine experiments from the 1970s until the early 2000s, Ricote said, many of them captured in the wild as infants.

Liberia has the second-highest number of chimpanzees in West Africa, after Guinea. The West African chimpanzees are classified as a critically endangered species because of their rapidly declining numbers.

“They were used in very invasive research … (and) went through a lot of experiments and pain,” Ricote said.

Humane World for Animals said that in 2015, it assumed permanent responsibility for 60 of the chimpanzees that were remaining at the end of the research program. The chimps now mostly live at the sanctuary on a series of mangrove forest-covered islands.

The checks carried out under anesthetic gave the chimpanzees head-to-toe exams to assess their long-term health, detect any early signs of disease and tailor care plans as they age, Humane World for Animals said in a statement to the AP.

The tests included dental examinations, the heart, lungs, and nervous system, as well as blood tests. They get booster vaccinations and fingernail trims, it said, adding that plans are in place to carry out the checks on the remaining ones.

“The health checks are a vital part of caring for these chimpanzees who have been through so much,” said Belen Perez Hernando, the sanctuary’s veterinarian.

The chimpanzees’ experiences in the labs illustrate the broader risks animals face, according to Dr. Mark Ofua, a veterinarian and West Africa representative for the Wild Africa conservation group. “Animals used in research are rarely the intended beneficiaries, suffering confinement, social disruption, and lasting psychological and physical harm," he said.

Ofua called for strict regulations on animals used for experimental research, adding that reviews have found most chimpanzee experiments “made no significant contribution to developing treatments for human diseases.”

The extent of the experiments’ impact on the West African chimps, whose average age is 30 to 35, is unclear, as findings from the assessments are yet to be concluded. However, “for those who were under experiments, you could still feel the hurt and the pain that they went through,” Ricote said.

“Seeing how much they hurt about what we’ve done, it gives me a lot of pleasure … to give them this second chance to live with dignity the life that they deserve,” she added.