3 monkeys still missing after truck crashes in Mississippi

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Authorities in Mississippi are searching for three Rhesus macaques still missing after a truck carrying 21 monkeys crashed on Interstate 59 near Heidelberg. (Credit: Jasper County Sheriff's Office)

JASPER COUNTY, Miss. - Tulane University in Louisiana has released updated information after a truck carrying monkeys crashed in Mississippi, causing some animals to escape and be euthanized while three remain on the loose. 

The primates were originally thought to have carried infectious diseases such as hepatitis C, herpes and COVID, but the Jasper County Sheriff's Office later retracted that statement, saying the monkeys were not infectious. 

RELATED: Truck carrying research monkeys crashes in Mississippi — three still missing

What they're saying:

"Nonhuman primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery," the university said in a statement Wednesday to FOX Television Stations. "This is a common practice among research organizations."

Monkeys on the loose in Mississippi

A truck carrying rhesus monkeys crashed in Jasper County, Mississippi, leaving three missing. Initial reports from the Jasper County Sheriff?s Department suggested the monkeys carried infectious diseases but later clarified that the animals were not infected.

Tulane University clarified that it was not involved in the transportation or ownership of the 21 Rhesus macaques involved in an accident on I-59 in Mississippi on October 28. 

The university emphasized that the nonhuman primates were not being transported by Tulane, were not owned by the institution, and were not under its custody at the time of the incident. 

The animals had recently undergone health examinations confirming they were pathogen-free and not carrying any diseases. 

Although Tulane had no direct connection to the transport or ownership of the primates, the university dispatched a team of animal care experts to assist in responding to the situation.

Dig deeper:

Contrary to initial reports from the occupants of the transport truck, who warned that the monkeys were dangerous and infected with various diseases, Tulane officials said the monkeys were not infectious, Sheriff Randy Johnson said in a news release. 

The monkeys still needed to be "neutralized" because of their aggressive nature, Johnson said.

The truck was carrying Rhesus monkeys, which typically weigh about 16 pounds (8 kilograms) and are among the most medically studied animals on the planet. It isn’t clear how many monkeys were on the truck, who owned them, who was transporting them, or where they were being taken and for what purpose.

Video from Tuesday shows monkeys crawling through tall grass on the side of Interstate 59 just north of Heidelberg, Mississippi, with wooden crates labeled "live animals" crumpled and strewn about. The truck was no longer at the crash scene Wednesday, but people wearing white coats, gloves and hair nets were searching the area along with law officers.

University officials will be in the area looking for the missing monkeys, the sheriff said. All other monkeys were being transported back to a facility in Louisiana.

What you can do:

If anyone sees monkeys, they should call the authorities and shouldn’t approach the animals, the sheriff’s office warned.