A ROGUE monkey feared to have herpes has been shot dead after going on the run for days.
A Mississippi resident said she blasted the primate to protect her kids, after hearing the gang of escapees were aggressive and contagious.
Several Rhesus monkeys were on the loose and being hunted by authorities after a truck carrying 21 of them flipped over on an interstate highway.
The driver told cops the monkeys were aggressive and infected with herpes, Hepatitis C and Covid-19.
Jessica Bond Ferguson said her 16-year-old son raised the alarm on Sunday morning when he saw a monkey running around the yard of their home near Heidelberg.
She rolled out of bed, grabbed her gun and cellphone, and marched outside.
Eying her up from around 60ft away was one of the notorious monkeys.
Jessica said she and other locals had been warned about the diseases and believed the monkey to be a threat.
She said: “I did what any other mother would do to protect her children.”
She has five kids ranging from four to 16 living at the house.
Jessica continued: “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”
Some of the monkeys died in the crash on Tuesday, some remained caged up and others escaped, police said.
The driver was transporting them from the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana – and believed them to be infected.
However, the university later said it did not own the monkeys, and that they were not carrying any diseases.
But it was too late.
Some of the monkeys had already been “destroyed” by local police, leaving just three unaccounted for.
The police department wrote: “The driver of the truck told local law enforcement that the monkeys were dangerous and posed a threat to humans.
“We took the appropriate actions after being given that information from the person transporting the monkeys.”
Tulane University said: “Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery.
“The primates in question belong to another entity and are not infectious.
“We are actively collaborating with local authorities and will send a team of animal care experts to assist as needed.”
