Morgan Freeman Comes Down with Infection, Misses UK Tour for New Show

Morgan Freeman is on the mend from a nasty infection that derailed his plans to jet across the pond to promote his latest show.

The 86-year-old actor was forced to cancel a UK trip after he came down with a fever ... according to his rep, who says doctors told Morgan he was contagious. Obviously, that meant doing a bunch of interviews was out of the question.

Morgan was scheduled to do a media tour to promote the new Taylor Sheridan show, "Special Ops: Lioness" -- Morgan costars with Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman -- but he was notably MIA from the interviews and Tuesday's screening.

He was also supposed to appear with his costars on the BBC program, "The One Show" -- but his absence was something host Alex Jones (not that one) said she was completely "gutted" about.

BTW, Morgan's also been struggling with fibromyalgia since 2008, after getting hurt in an almost-deadly car crash.

He donned a black compression glove on his hand at this year's Oscars ... something he often wears for comfort after ending up with permanent nerve damage from the wreck.