[size=18pt]Bandits in Guinea steal blood containing EBOLA: Minibus carrying contaminated samples is robbed as officials plead for their safe return [/size]

Blood samples stolen from a minibus en route to test centre
The robbers are thought to have no idea what they have stolen
Ebola has killed over 5,000 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea
Cuban doctor who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone arrives in Switzerland
World Health Organisation says Congo is now free of the virus

Armed bandits in Guinea have stolen a batch of blood samples infected with the deadly Ebola virus which were being delivered to a test centre.

The robbers held up a minibus near the town of Kissidougou which was transporting the samples from central Kankan prefecture to the test site 165 miles away in southern Gueckedou.

The blood was stored in a sealed container and was being escorted by four Red Cross officials. It is believed the bandits had no idea what it was they were stealing and may have thought there was cash hidden inside the container.


Children climb a wall to see a helicopter land in Gueckedou, Ginea. Officials in Guinea say bandits stole a cooler containing blood samples that are believed to be infected with the Ebola virus

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Guinea authorities publicly appealed on national radio to the unidentified robbers to hand over the stolen samples that are understood to have been taken from a single person.

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.

Guinea Red Cross press officer Faya Etienne Tolno explained that the Guinea Red Cross did not have its own vehicles for transport, which explains why a taxi was commissioned.

'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.'

'I can assure you, however, that the sample-transportation procedures will now be strengthened to avoid such disappointments,' he said.


Awoman runs through a village near Faranah, in Guinea. A coalition of companies and aid groups announced plans this week to test experimental drugs and collect blood plasma from Ebola survivors to treat new victims of the disease in West Africa

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Ebola, which has killed more than 5,000 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, is spread primarily by contact with infected bodily fluids including blood, feces and vomit.

Yesterday a doctor in Mali died of Ebola after treating an imam who also succumbed to the disease, taking the total toll in the west African country up to seven, health authorities said. The World Health Organization said the virus was 'almost certainly re-introduced into Mali by a 70-year-old Grand Imam from Guinea, who was admitted to Bamako's Pasteur clinic on 25 October and died on 27 October.'

The doctor had been undergoing treatment for Ebola for nearly two weeks, according to the health ministry.

A total of five infections, all of which have proved fatal, were now linked to the imam.

As well as the doctor they include a male nurse who cared for the imam at the Pasteur clinic, and a 51-year-old friend who came to visit the imam.

A two-year-old girl also died from the disease last month in an unconnected case in the western town of Kayes.

The health ministry said a total of 303 people were under surveillance and had their temperatures taken twice a day.

The Malian government had on Wednesday cited a figure of 413 people being monitored.

The WHO said Wednesday 5,420 people have died from Ebola in the current outbreak, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Meanwhile a Cuban doctor who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone has arrived in Switzerland for treatment.

The Swiss news agency SDA reported Friday that Felix Baez Sarria arrived on a flight overnight and was transported in a specially outfitted ambulance with a police escort to Geneva University Hospital


Cuban doctor Felix Baez Sarria, second from left, who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone, is helped off an airplane to a specially outfitted ambulance before being transported to the Geneva University Hospital

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Cuban doctor Felix Baez Sarria, who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone, arrives on a gurney at the Geneva University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, today

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2843890/Bandits-Guinea-steal-suspected-Ebola-blood.html#ixzz3JoghPOGH
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Dude..my thought oo..are they sure it wasn't a planned attack and they qana use it to do some more harm

SuperMartins:
Dude..my thought oo..are they sure it wasn't a planned attack and they qana use it to do some more harm

Sold on the black market to terrorists; sponsored by terrorists; mistake as they claim who knows but Nigeria Authorities should monitor the story because if stolen deliberately I'm almost certain its heading for Nigeria