![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/truck-crashes-monkeys-diseases.jpg\")
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\t\t\t Jasper County Sheriff’s Department\n\t<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know for sure: a truck that was transporting research monkeys crashed on an interstate in eastern Mississippi after leaving Tulane University, and some of them escaped.<\/p>\n
According to a statement posted to Facebook<\/a>, the local Jasper County Sheriff\u2019s Office initially claimed the Rhesus monkeys were infected with a range of horrendous diseases \u2014 including hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID-19 \u2014 and were \u201caggressive.\u201d All but one of the escaped animals have been euthanized, the police said, and the university was due to recover the ones still in cages.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuing to look for the one monkey that is still on the loose,\u201d the cops said.<\/p>\n But then the story took an unexpected turn. Tulane University spokesperson Michael Strecker told New Orleans-based outlet NOLA<\/a> that the \u201cprimates in question belong to another entity and are not infectious,\u201d suggesting that the sheriff\u2019s office had received bad intel.<\/p>\n \u201cNon-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are actively collaborating with local authorities and will send a team of animal care experts to assist as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement to Futurism, a Tulane University spokesperson clarified that the \u201cmonkeys did not carry any infectious disease and had not been exposed to any infectious agent.\u201d<\/p>\n With or without the threat of being infected by a monkey on the loose, the situation still posed a considerable threat. According to the sheriff\u2019s office, the monkeys weighed around 40 pounds each and were \u201caggressive to humans and they require [personal protective equipment] to handle.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time we\u2019ve heard of research monkeys escaping their captors. In November 2024, over 40 rhesus macaques escaped a facility<\/a> run by Alpha Genesis, one of the largest monkey breeders globally, in South Carolina. Authorities warned residents to secure their doors and windows.<\/p>\n Over a month later, four monkeys remained uncaptured<\/a>. By late January 2025, officials confirmed<\/a> that all 43 monkeys had been recovered safely.<\/p>\n