In October of l989, Macaque monkeys, housed at the Reston Primate
Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia, began dying from a mysterious disease
at an alarming rate. The monkeys, imported from the Philippines, were to
be sold as laboratory animals. Twenty-nine of a shipment of one hundred
died within a month. Dan Dalgard, the veterinarian who cared for the
monkeys, feared they were dying from Simian Hemorrhagic Fever, a disease
lethal to monkeys but harmless to humans. Dr. Dalgard decided to enlist
the aid of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious
Diseases (USAMRIID)…
