[color=#006600][/color]CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — It was a highway robbery but
the bandits got more than they bargained for when they
stopped a taxi in Guinea and made off with blood
samples that are believed to be infected with the deadly
Ebola virus. Authorities publicly appealed on national radio Friday to
the unidentified robbers to hand over the samples that
were stolen from the taxi during its 265-kilometer (165-
mile) trek on winding rural roads from the central
Kankan prefecture to a test site in southern Gueckedou. The samples, stored in tightly wrapped vials tucked into
a cooler bag, were in the care of a Red Cross courier who
was among nine passengers sharing a taxi when three
bandits on a motorbike led the attack near the town of
Kissidougou, a local Red Cross official said. The robbers forced the passengers out, stole mobile
phones, cash and jewelry, and fired into the air as they
demanded the handover of the cooler bag, said Saa
Mamady Leno of the Red Cross in Gueckedou. The
courier, Abubakar Donzo, was later questioned by
police. Faya Etienne Tolno, a spokesman for the Guinea Red
Cross, said the aid group had a shortage of vehicles for
transport, which explains why a taxi was used. No one
was injured in the incident, which took place on a road
known for banditry. "We don't understand why they stole the blood sample.
Perhaps they thought there was cash hidden in the
flask," Tolno said. Dr. Barry Moumie, who heads patient care for the
national Ebola response coordination committee, told
The Associated Press: "We have informed the security
services. If these thieves handle this blood, it will be
dangerous." Ebola is spread primarily by contact with infected bodily
fluids including blood, feces and vomit. "I can assure you, however, that the sample-
transportation procedures will now be strengthened to
avoid such disappointments," Moumie said. The theft underscores how hazards abound and hiccups
remain in the aid response, despite millions of dollars'
worth of international support pouring into West Africa
to fight a virus now responsible for more than 5,000
deaths in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Dr. Hans Rosling, who is advising Liberia on its Ebola
response, noted the difficulties of transporting such
samples, saying countries and groups like the United
States and the United Nations have rules about moving
such hazardous materials. In Liberia, "we use specifically allocated motorbikes and
cars. We use what's available and what's reasonable. We
have to organize things as we go along," he said. "It
may have been the correct decision in Guinea (to use a
taxi) and the robbery was just a sad mishap." "There's no way we can secure transport in all of this
area," Rosling said. "It was a good initiative to try to get
the sample out."
source:news.yahoo.com/bandits-guinea-steal-suspected-ebola-blood-105816420.html