Created by R.H. Scott
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'MINUTE

Record of Interview, April 25th, 1955.

Mr. Lawrence Fox of the Department of Commerce stayed behind after lunch with me on April 25th when we had met the Jamaican Minsters up here looking for polio vaccine, to say that the Administration were in difficulty over the supply of Rhesus monkeys from India. I said I had seen something about this in the newspapers. Mr. Fox said that tests were proceeding to determine whether the kidneys of other monkeys could be used as cultures for Dr. Salk's vaccine but hitherto and indeed for some time ahead the only suitable monkeys were the Rhesus and the best source of supply was India. (I think about 30,000 a year, for polio research and other purposes). Unfortunately, one consignment had not been looked after properly and some of the monkeys had died en route. This had been brought to the attention Mr. Nehru ...

The present position therefore was that the Department of Commerce (which is apparently handling both the import of monkeys and the export of vaccine) could not count on a supply of monkeys after June 30th... Mr. Fox mentioned, incidentally, that many of the requests from abroad for the vaccine were not coming through the usual channels, but were put at the very highest level, sometimes direct to the President from Heads of foreign states. This made the position all the more embarrassing.

He mentioned also that in discussion with Mr. Nehru the argument had been used that the vaccine was being developed for the benefit of the whole world and only for Americans.

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