WEBVTT - How Did a South Carolina Monkey Farm Help Defeat Polio?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Bogle bam here. In the nineteen forties,

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<v Speaker 1>America was under a constant threat from polio, a disease

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<v Speaker 1>that had a then unknown cause and devastating effects, especially

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<v Speaker 1>in children. It spread quickly through unclean water and unwashed hands,

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<v Speaker 1>leading to symptoms like nausea, fatigue, fever, and the stiffening

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<v Speaker 1>of the body. Summers, especially sausages, and infections, particularly around

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<v Speaker 1>swimming holes, leading to post polio paralysis and in some

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<v Speaker 1>cases death. On average, thirty five thousand people were disabled

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<v Speaker 1>each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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<v Speaker 1>President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was among the most notable people

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<v Speaker 1>to get the condition, putting a face to a still

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<v Speaker 1>uncertain disease. A vaccine was desperately needed as scientists learned

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<v Speaker 1>about the transmission process, including the fact that anyone could

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<v Speaker 1>be a carrier. In the next few years, rival scientists

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<v Speaker 1>Jonas Salk and Albert Saban worked with teams in their

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<v Speaker 1>labs on two completely different vaccines. Saban worked on an

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<v Speaker 1>oral vaccine, while Sulk created an injectable vaccine using a

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<v Speaker 1>killed version of Polio. In the book Polio, An American Story,

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<v Speaker 1>David m Oshinsky writes about the urgency of Salk's work

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<v Speaker 1>during the time, quote for Sealk, there was reason to hurry.

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<v Speaker 1>The year nineteen fifty two was the worst polio year

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<v Speaker 1>on record, with more than fifty seven thousand cases nationwide.

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<v Speaker 1>The headlines screamed of plague season and polio time. Twenty

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<v Speaker 1>one thousand victims suffered permanent paralysis, and about three thousand died.

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<v Speaker 1>From the very beginning of the polio epidemic, monkeys were

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<v Speaker 1>considered to be essential for research before human trials could

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<v Speaker 1>take place, becoming the unsung heroes of the fight to

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<v Speaker 1>defeat the disease. It was through animal research that scientists

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<v Speaker 1>first discovered that there were three strains of the deadly disease.

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<v Speaker 1>The monkeys were purchased at a high cost from India

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<v Speaker 1>and the Philippines and shipped to the United States. Many

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<v Speaker 1>died in transit, so the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis,

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<v Speaker 1>now known as the March of Dimes, began overseeing their

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<v Speaker 1>import In nineteen forty nine, a foundation established a special

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<v Speaker 1>facility known as ok Tee Farms in rural South Carolina

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<v Speaker 1>to process the monkeys arriving from abroad. Ok Tee Farms

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<v Speaker 1>operated in the Pyney Colony area of Beaufort County in

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<v Speaker 1>coastal South Carolina. Originally called the Pritchardville Primate Center, the

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<v Speaker 1>forty acre or sixteen hectar a tract of land along

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<v Speaker 1>the river, was called by local newspapers the Ellis Island

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<v Speaker 1>for thousands of monkeys from India. Naturalist John Hamlet had

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<v Speaker 1>the job of finding a space for the primate center

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<v Speaker 1>that was both connected to deep water ports and airports,

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<v Speaker 1>but also remote enough from neighbors. The area he shows

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<v Speaker 1>closely approximated the natural habitats of the monkeys, with its

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<v Speaker 1>abundance of shady long leaf pines and a mild climate.

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<v Speaker 1>The monkeys were originally brought into Savannah, Georgia, one of

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<v Speaker 1>the region's biggest ports, and taken by truck the thirty

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<v Speaker 1>odd miles or fifty some kilometers to the farm. When

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<v Speaker 1>air travel became more popular, they were flown via London

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<v Speaker 1>in New York before traveling by train to the low Country,

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<v Speaker 1>But once they arrived at the farm, veterinarians treated the

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand or so rhesus and synomologous monkeys before clearing

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<v Speaker 1>them for transport to research facilities around the country. The

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<v Speaker 1>monkeys spent twenty one days getting acclimated and eating a

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<v Speaker 1>special diet was scientists carefully monitoring their status. Many went

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<v Speaker 1>to Selks facility in Pittsburgh and Sabin's in an arbor,

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<v Speaker 1>where they were given vaccines to test the vaccine's strength

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<v Speaker 1>against the three strains of poliovirus. A few locals were

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<v Speaker 1>aware of the research that was going on at the farm.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite rumors of people encountering the animals, we were unable

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<v Speaker 1>to discover any opposition to the research facility, perhaps because

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<v Speaker 1>it was not well known, and also because opposition to

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<v Speaker 1>using animals and testing was not very common at the

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<v Speaker 1>time in the United States. The movement against animal testing

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<v Speaker 1>didn't pick up steam until around nineteen eighty. In any case,

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<v Speaker 1>the farm's purpose wasn't permanent. One Sal's polio vaccine was

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<v Speaker 1>deemed success and released to the public in nineteen fifty five.

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<v Speaker 1>The work of Okte Farms was no longer necessary, and

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<v Speaker 1>the facility closed in nineteen fifty nine. H Saban's oral

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine came into use in nineteen sixty one. The foundation

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<v Speaker 1>that had established the facility turned its attention to reducing

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<v Speaker 1>premature births. The monkeys found new homes and labs across

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<v Speaker 1>the country. According to a former employee named Louise Crawford,

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<v Speaker 1>things that the farm were left just as they were,

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<v Speaker 1>including the monkey cages. Caretaker kept the grass in plant

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<v Speaker 1>life at bay. The lab was locked up ready for

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<v Speaker 1>someone new to take on the important task of preparing

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<v Speaker 1>monkeys for research, but that day never came. In nineteen eighty,

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<v Speaker 1>the land and its contents were sold to a development group.

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<v Speaker 1>The lab equipment was donated to a local school science department,

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<v Speaker 1>while a farmer claimed the former monkey cages for his

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<v Speaker 1>own animals. Today, the acreage along the oak Ti River

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<v Speaker 1>is mostly residential and privately owned. Thanks to Selks and

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<v Speaker 1>Saban's vaccines, polio cases of plummeted from three fifty thousand

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<v Speaker 1>to just twenty two. Animal testing is still considered objectionable

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<v Speaker 1>in many settings, such as the cosmetics industry, but it

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<v Speaker 1>is an important final step in some medical testing before

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<v Speaker 1>treatment is attempted with human patients. Hopefully, in the future,

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<v Speaker 1>medical technologies like lab grown organs and advanced computing will

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<v Speaker 1>allow scientists to avoid the practice altogether, but for now,

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<v Speaker 1>it saves countless lives. Today's episode was written by Caroline

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<v Speaker 1>Eubanks and produced by Tyler Clang. For more in this

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<v Speaker 1>a lots of other topics, visit hous stufforks dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio or more

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