‘Aggressive’ disease-ridden monkey on the loose after escaping when truck carrying primates crashed

An interstate in Mississippi turned into a Sci-Fi thriller on Tuesday afternoon when a truck flipped over and released a troop of monkeys into the county.

The primates were intended for scientific research and were associated with Tulane University’s National Biomedical Research Center, but never reached their destination.

The sheriff’s office said that the monkeys carry hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID. A team at Tulane University is scheduled to pick up the monkeys who didn’t escape on Wednesday.

As for the primates that fled, authorities are working with experts at the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to ‘destroy’ their remains.

The sheriff’s office released an update in the afternoon that all but one of the monkeys had been shot and killed.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office advised the truck hauling the monkeys had overturned north of Heidelberg, which is about two hours west of Jackson, and warned locals to steer clear.

‘Do not approach the monkeys if you see one. Call 911. They do pose potential health threats and are aggressive,’ the sheriff’s department said.

Authorities identified the species as Rhesus monkeys. They are the most global nonhuman primates because they can adapt to a wide range of environments.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Department announced that a truck flipped over on a Mississippi interstate on Tuesday, carrying rabid monkeys

Tulane University said in a statement that the monkeys weren’t exposed to any infectious agents and weren’t being transported by their research department

Rhesus monkeys are native to mainland Asia, and have also been found in Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Puerto Rico.

The interstate was briefly closed while authorities searched for the escaped primates, but it has since reopened.

A spokesperson for Tulane University clarified to the Daily Mail that its National Biomedical Research Center provides organizations with non-human primates for scientific discovery.

These monkeys had belonged to another agency and are not infectious to humans, the statement added.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the sheriff’s department.

The story went viral on social media, with many in shock that monkeys were on the loose in Mississippi.

‘Only in 2025: a truck carrying infected monkeys with herpes, COVID, and other diseases from Tulane University crashes in Mississippi,’ one person wrote on X.

The species were identified as Rhesus monkeys, which are the most global nonhuman primates

‘You seriously can’t make this up,’ they added.

‘The zombies will be coming soon,’ another joked.

‘That would be my luck. Get herps from a crazed monkey bite at a Mississippi rest stop,’ a fourth wrote sarcastically.

One social media user pointed out the striking similarities between the monkey escape and the film Outbreak, a 1995 thriller that follows a team of doctors who attempt to contain a virus after a monkey was smuggled into the US from Africa.

‘I’ve seen this movie. Dustin Hoffman and Cuba Gooding Jr,’ they wrote, referencing the stars of Outbreak.