Cops in Mississippi Are Dealing With Loose Monkeys After Truck Crash

Okay, folks, let's get down to business ... some serious -- and literal -- monkey business!

You might've heard about a bunch of primates getting loose after a truck accident on a highway in the South ... and you might've even learned about some serious diseases they were reportedly carrying ... because we had the scoop on it all!

Here's an overview of how the situation got so hairy ... and what to do if you come face-to-face with one of the escaped monkeys.

The story starts in rural Heidelberg, Mississippi, where a trailer truck carrying the monkeys flipped over on a highway.

There were a total of 21 rhesus monkeys in the truck being transported from the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana when the accident occurred.

Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson told TMZ a deputy responding to the crash had the truck's occupants contact their supervisor ... who told them the monkeys were infected with hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID. The supervisor also recommended having the monkeys put down, and the sheriff described the primates as having been "aggressive."

So ... the deputy shot five of the monkeys dead at the scene ... before the truth was learned -- the monkeys were all disease-free. But three escaped and escaped into the woods nearby.

A representative for Tulane University, the managing institution of the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center, later issued a statement and said the monkeys had all received medical check-ups not long before the accident occurred.

A Tulane spokesperson noted the monkeys were "not being transported by Tulane, not owned by Tulane, and not in Tulane’s custody." The rep also said the "primates in question were not carrying any diseases and had received recent checkups confirming that they were pathogen-free."

Sheriff Johnson said authorities were actively hunting for the monkeys on the loose, and he said traps had been set up in the woods.