‘Aggressive’ monkey infected with COVID and STIs running loose in Mississippi after transport truck overturns: sheriff

An “aggressive” monkey infected with COVID and multiple sexually transmitted diseases is running loose through Mississippi after a truck overturned on an Interstate and released a pack of the diseased lab primates, officials said.

The truck carrying the cartload of rhesus monkeys from a research center affiliated with Tulane University careened into a ditch north of Heidelberg Tuesday afternoon, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.

The 40-pound monkeys carry COVID, hepatitis C, and herpes and are “aggressive to humans,” the department warned. Humans should not handle the animals without PPE, it added.

The truck itself was wrecked, leaving a hole just large enough for the primates whose cages were broken during the crash to escape into the Mississippi valleys, according to a photo shared by the sheriff’s department.

It’s unclear how many monkeys were packed into the truck, but all those who escaped were quickly seized and euthanized — except for one still on the lam.

The department advised anyone who sees the fugitive monkey to call 911 and stay as far away from it as possible.

However, Tulane University refuted the sheriff’s department’s report that the animals were infectious.

“Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery. The primates in question belong to another entity and are not infectious. We are actively collaborating with local authorities and will send a team of animal care experts to assist as needed,” the university said in a statement.

The sheriff’s office was still scouring the area for the loose monkey with assistance from the Mississippi Wildlife and Fisheries and an “animal disposal company” as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to its post on Facebook.

The average adult rhesus monkey typically weighs between 9 and 26 pounds, depending on its sex. They are often preferred as subjects for research in part because of the similarities in their genomes to those of humans.

There is also little concern for its population base, as the average mature female rhesus produces at least one offspring per year, according to National Geographic.

The rhesus monkey has a long history supporting humanity’s advancement. Its ranks include Albert II, the first monkey the United States sent into space in 1948, and rhesus antigens helped doctors identify the different human blood groups.