(Daily Star) – Herpes-infected monkeys are spreading across the US after escaping from a national park. Silver Springs State Park in Florida has long been home to a large troop of STD-carrying rhesus macaques, native to south and south-east Asia. However, sightings are becoming more frequent hundreds of miles from the park, US media reports. They’ve been spotted in St. Johns, St. Augustine, Palatka, Welaka and Elkton in north-east Florida.
A survey conducted in 2018 found there around 300 monkeys in the group, 25% of which carry herpes B. Though extremely rare in humans, it can cause brain damage and death if not treated. However, there has been no population control in place for the monkeys since 2012, First Coast News reports. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) enacted a feeding ban of the monkeys in 2017 and has also tracked encounters of the population.
Between 1977 and 1984, the FWC noted 23 injuries to humans but has not kept records since. Back in October, a study suggested the monkeys’ population will double by 2022 unless state agencies take steps to control it. The monkeys were originally part of a failed tourist attraction called Colonel Tooey’s Jungle Cruise in the 1930s. READ MORE
