Oklahoma State U. Halts an Anthrax Study, Citing Plan to Euthanize Baboons

The president of Oklahoma State University has halted a federally supported study of anthrax vaccines because baboons involved in the research would have been euthanized, The Oklahoman reported. The president, V. Burns Hargis, declined to comment to the newspaper, but a university spokesman said the project “was not in the best interest of the university.” Veterinary scientists worried that the president might arbitrarily end other projects involving animal research. Michael Davis, a veterinarian who was a member of an institutional committee that approved the project, defended the research, saying anthrax terrorism was not hypothetical but a real threat that has killed people in the United States.