Monkeys May Have Been Released by Rogue Employee

The from a research facility in South Carolina earlier this month may have been no accident. Alpha Genesis founder and CEO Gregory Westergaard tells that the company is investigating whether the release of the rhesus monkeys from the facility was an "intentional act" by an employee. Westergaard says the recent rapid expansion of the facility wasn't the cause of the escape.

"The enclosure was brand new and in perfect working order," he says, but three containment doors, each with two locks and two latches, were left unsecured while an employee was "doing routine cleaning and feeding." "We continue to investigate in an attempt to determine to the greatest extent possible whether this was or was not an intentional act," he says. "My understanding is that immediately after the incident occurred, the employee's supervisor approached her and stated that she could be terminated if it was determined that there was no structural failure which led to the escape," Westergaard told earlier this week.



"I am told at that point the employee walked off the job and has not returned." He said he's not sure if the employee has been officially fired, but "he would expect so." He said it's still unclear whether the escape was the result of human error or "malice.

" Westergaard says only four monkeys are still on the loose as of Tuesday and the recaptured 39 are in good health, the reports. The escape has drawn a lot of attention to the facility, which breeds primates for disease research. "A lot of constituents were concerned about whether or not the primates that escaped were sick or ill, or have been tested on," Rep.

Nancy Mace wrote in a letter to the National Institutes of Health, expressing "very urgent concerns regarding federal oversight of Alpha Genesis." Westergaard tells ABC News that there has been a severe shortage of research monkeys since China banned all exports. Without his company to "fill this void," he says, the "alternative is to allow the Chinese to dominate medical development to the severe detriment of our national security interests.

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