The University of Pittsburgh has been issued citations that contain fines of $5,250 for the Sept. 24 macaque attack that left a laboratory employee with serious hand injuries.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration cited the university Nov. 21 for two "serious" violations, including failing to provide adequate training for lab technicians and insufficient safety equipment at Pitt's $18 million Regional Biocontainment Laboratory in Biomedical Science Tower 3 in Oakland.

Inside the lab, the university uses primates to develop vaccines with a focus on dengue, influenza, avian flu and tuberculosis.

Patricia "Trish" Boyle, 54, of Avalon, was feeding a macaque, known as a cynomolgus monkey, when it bit her right hand below the index and middle fingers. The monkey refused to release her hand, so Ms. Boyle was unable to pull her hand away. She spent eight days in the hospital, underwent three surgeries and sustained bone, tendon and neurological damage to the hand, she said. She's still undergoing rehabilitation therapy but has returned to work full time in the lab.

Leni Fortson, OSHA spokeswoman, said the university failed to provide training and protective gloves, among other safety equipment, which could have help to prevent the injuries. The university has 15 days to appeal the fines, she said.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said Pitt will appeal the citations.