When used for infectious disease research, these animals should be housed under negative pressure or neutral containment housing. Appropriate social and nonsocial environmental enrichment opportunities are strongly encouraged where this does not conflict with the scientific objectives. Nonhuman Primates Containment housing may pose special problems in providing environmental enrichment for nonhuman primates. Such housing should provide the minimum restriction of social, tactile, visual and auditory stimuli consistent with the requirements of the experiment. If the use of primates involves infectious agents, the decision to use barrier containment should be based upon the biosafety level of the agent being studied, the species of nonhuman primate used and the nature of the experiment.
Social housing is the preferred method of providing environmental enrichment.
However, this is not possible or desirable in all instances. To ameliorate presumed psychological stress to individually housed nonhuman primates in containment housing, alternative methods of enrichment should be employed. Information about these can be obtained from NIH staff primate behaviorists. References Animal Welfare Act. Amended January 1985.