Lab monkeys on loose after Mississippi crash were disease-free, university says

A monkey emerges from the wreckage of the truck crash in Mississippi on Tuesday. Photograph: Jasper county sheriff's department, Mississippi/Facebook

A group of monkeys being transported on a Mississippi highway that escaped captivity on Tuesday after the truck carrying them overturned did not carry a dangerous infectious disease, a university has said.

The truck was carrying rhesus monkeys, which typically weigh around 16lb (7.7kg) and are among the most medically studied animals on the planet.