Dozens of young monkeys escape from South Carolina research center

Dozens of young rhesus macaque monkeys on Thursday escaped from a testing facility in a South Carolina research center.

The Yemassee Police Department confirmed the incident to Fox News, and said the 43 monkeys are too young to carry diseases because they are too young to be tested on. But residents are still encouraged to close their doors and windows.

"Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes," the department said.

The monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis lab, which houses around 6,500 animals.

Prominent cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough commented on the story during an episode of "Just The News, No Noise" television show, and warned that leaks are bound to happen during testing periods when there are no bans or restrictions on the research.

"The leaks can be test tubes. It can be animals that get out there. It can be actually commingling with wild animals," McCullough said. "There's a great concern that we don't have a handle on that ... I think the universities now, this needs to be taken off their plate, and this needs to be done in very controlled circumstances with tons of oversight and security."

The incident reportedly occurred when one of the employees failed to secure the door to an enclosure, according to CBS News. The CEO of Alpha Genesis, Greg Westergaard, said they were hoping the monkeys would return on their own.

"It's really like follow-the-leader. You see one go and the others go," Westergaard said. "It was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 bolted out the door ... I couldn't believe it, to be honest with you. 

"It does happen that one can sneak out once in a while. It is very unusual to have a big group like this."

The Yemassee Police Department said it had eyes on the primates at 1 p.m. local time Thursday, and were trying to entice the animals with food. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.