A woman who helped lab monkeys thinking they were cats after a truck carrying the creatures crashed fears she may have picked up an illness.
Michelle Fallon says one of the 100 escaped animals spat at her - and she has been sick since pulling over to help.
After the vehicle ran into trouble, some of the crates broke after spilling out and it allowed many of the caged monkeys to run free.
She approached one before it hissed at her and the woman from Pennsylvania, US, says she’s been experiencing ‘pink eye’ symptoms since the incident last week.
She was also reported an inflammation of the eyeball and a cough and believes she may have caught something following the road accident.
Now Mrs Fallon has begun a course of antiviral drugs and treatment to prevent rabies.
Following the rescue mission, she became alarmed after hearing officials warn the public not to approach the escaped monkeys as they could be carrying infectious diseases.
She told news outlet WBRE: “I thought I was just doing the right thing by helping.
“I was close to the monkeys, I touched the crates, I walked through their faeces so I was very close. So I called to inquire, you know, was I safe?”
Since the incident, the animal lover says she has experienced a number of symptoms.
She wrote on Facebook : “What a day! I tried to help out at an accident and was told there were cats in the crates. So I went over to pet them only to find out it was monkeys.
"Then I noticed that there was three in each, with some completely broken, so I knew four had got away.
“I came home to go to bed and my aunt ran into a news crew and she found out not to get too close to the monkey. Well, I tried to pet one. I touched the crates and walked in poop.
"I was told meet the police at the scene to talk about exposure.
“I spoke with the police and a woman from the CDC. I am getting a letter and I'm very low risk for I don't know what yet. But my symptoms are covid symptoms. Like seriously. A day from hell!”
Mrs Fallon visited a hospital where she was told by medics to closely monitor her health for the next month in case she develops any infectious diseases.
The monkeys that managed to escape and go on the run were later captured and euthanised.
