A group of potentially diseased lab monkeys escaped after a vehicle crash on a main interstate highway in Mississippi.
A truck carrying rhesus monkeys was involved in a wreck on Interstate 59 on Tuesday afternoon, according to a Facebook post from the Jasper county sheriff’s department.
The monkeys, which came from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, were infected with several viruses including hepatitis C and Covid-19, according to the department, thus posing a potential health risk to humans.
“The monkeys are approximately 40lbs, they are aggressive to humans and they require [personal protective equipment] to handle,” read the department’s social media post.