Lebanon today
A horrific accident occurred on Highway 59 in the US state of Mississippi, where a truck carrying an unusual cargo overturned: monkeys intended for scientific research.
Fear grips the people, especially after reports circulated that some of these monkeys might be infected with the hepatitis C virus and the Corona virus.
The Guardian newspaper reported that the truck was carrying rhesus monkeys, owned by Tulane University in New Orleans.
Jasper County Police confirmed that these monkeys may be carriers of multiple diseases, most notably hepatitis C virus and Covid-19, which threatens the health of local residents.
The police warned that the weight of one monkey is approximately 40 pounds, and that it is aggressive towards humans, and stressed the need to use personal protective equipment when dealing with it.
But Andrew Yaun, a spokesman for Tulane University, gave a different account, confirming that non-human primates belonging to the National Center for Biomedical Research are being used at various research institutions to support scientific discoveries, and pointing out that the monkeys in question are not directly affiliated with the university, and are not infectious.
Yaun added that the university is cooperating with local authorities and has sent a team of animal care experts to help contain the situation.
By Tuesday evening, local police announced that all the escaped monkeys had been controlled except for one monkey who was still at large, while search teams continued combing operations to find him.
source: 961 today
