Residents in a South Carolina town were advised to close their windows and doors after 43 rhesus macaque monkeys escaped a testing facility Thursday.

The warning came after the primates fled the “Alpha Genesis facility located on Castle Hall Road,” the Yemassee Police Department (YPD) posted on social media. 

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

A spokesperson from Alpha Genesis confirmed to Fox News Digital that the monkeys were too young to carry diseases, saying that they were too young for testing.

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Alpha Genesis said that traps were set up in the area and police were using thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to locate the vanishing monkeys.

“Traps have been set up around the area, and the Yemassee Police Department is currently on-site utilizing thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to locate the animals,” the organization said.

Police and Alpha Genesis researchers stressed that locals should “refrain from approaching” any of the monkeys, and instead immediately contact 911 if they are spotted. (Alpha Genesis)

In an update at 1 p.m. Thursday, the YPD said that it had eyes on the primates and were attempting to entice them with food.

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The monkeys are said to weigh 6 to 7 pounds, and described by police as “skittish.”

Rhesus macaque monkeys are native to Asia. (Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Alpha Genesis is responsible for the maintenance, feeding, and veterinary care of monkeys at its primary facility in Yemassee.

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The facility is home to around 6,500 animals.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Yemassee Police Department for comment.

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Vanderbilt football is fresh off bowl eligibility with a win over Auburn last week. Now, the Commodores will return home in front of a sold-out crowd against South Carolina at FirstBank Stadium (3:15 p.m., SEC Network).

Vanderbilt (6-3, 3-2 SEC) faces a long losing streak to the Gamecocks (5-3, 3-3) with plenty of motivation to snap it. But the Commodores also have a few key players, most notably Diego Pavia and Sedrick Alexander, banged up and have not scored more than 24 points in a game since beating Alabama.

Vanderbilt and South Carolina had an argument to be ranked in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024 season, but both teams were left out.

Here’s what you need to know about the matchup:

Vanderbilt football has lost 15 straight games to South Carolina

Vanderbilt’s most recent win over South Carolina was four Commodores coaches and three Gamecocks coaches ago, when Bobby Johnson’s Vanderbilt team defeated Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina, 24-17 in 2008.

Since then, the Commodores have lost 15 straight games in the series. Vanderbilt dropped a heartbreaker in 2021, 21-20, but the last two matchups have been significant margins for South Carolina, including a 47-6 loss in Columbia last season.

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Diego Pavia, LaNorris Sellers are dual-threat quarterbacks

Pavia (62.56 yards per game) and South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (50.43 yards per game) are the top two quarterbacks in the SEC in rushing yards and rushing attempts per game. In passing yards per game, Pavia is 11th and Sellers is 12th among the SEC’s 16 starting quarterbacks. In passing attempts per game, Sellers is 12th and Pavia is 13th.

Both teams have a run-heavy offense, with the Gamecocks leaning on Sellers and running back Rocket Sanders, while Vanderbilt has Pavia and Alexander.

Both offenses rely heavily on the run, both from running backs and quarterbacks, to be effective. With both defenses practicing against this type of offense, it may be hard for either team to get an edge.

Could Nashville weather impact Vanderbilt vs South Carolina?

Rain is in the forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening in Nashville. That could make it more difficult for both teams to hold onto the ball and could also impact the kicking game. This season, Vanderbilt has fumbled nine times but lost just two of those fumbles, while South Carolina has fumbled 15 times and lost nine.

Vanderbilt football score prediction vs South Carolina

Vanderbilt 17, South Carolina 14: This looks like a classic spot for a low-scoring game. It could go either way, but Vanderbilt has played well at home this season and that could provide an advantage.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.

A police search is underway after 40 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Police in Yemassee, Beaufort County, said the animals escaped from Alpha Genesis, a business that provides “nonhuman primate products and bio-research services,” according to its website.

Traps have been set up and officers are using thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to recapture the animals, police said.

“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” Yemassee Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it but instead call 911, it said.

The company works with monkeys to carry out clinical trials, including on brain disease disorder treatments, and says it has “one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities, designed specifically for monkeys, in the United States.”

The sheriff’s department didn’t specify the breed of the fugitive primates, but the company’s website says it works with macaque  and capuchin monkeys.

It is also not known what trials the escaped monkeys were taking part in, nor whether they were exposed to any diseases. Alpha Genesis did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.

The company secured a federal contract to run a colony of 3,500 monkeys on Morgan Island off the coast of South Carolina, also known as Monkey Island.

The Post and Courier newspaper in Beaufort County reported that primate escapes have happened several times before in the area, including in May this year, and in 2016 when 19 evaded security at Alpha Genesis before they were recaptured six hours later.

In 2022, three monkeys escaped following a traffic accident in rural Pennsylvania.