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.
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."
International
assistance has been increasing in Sierra Leone, where the World Health
Organization has warned about an "intense" surge in cases.
The
United Nations Children's Fund was working Friday to ramp up the number
of community care centers in order to isolate more suspected patients. A
total of 10 community care centers with eight beds each have been
opened in the northern district of Bombali, one of the areas hit hardest
in Sierra Leone. The outbreak in Sierra Leone alone is believed to have
killed more than 1,200 people.
Five more centers will open in the next week, UNICEF spokesman John James said Friday.
The
community care centers, built after consulting local officials and
traditional leaders in rural areas, are part of an effort to break
transmission by isolating more suspected patients, James said.
Such
centers are critically important in halting the spread of the disease. A
WHO report released Wednesday indicates that Sierra Leone has the
lowest percentage of Ebola patients who have been isolated — only 13
percent.
"It's a way to isolate people, give them basic care in
the area where they live. And it's easier for families to see them,"
James said. Those patients who test positive for Ebola will ideally be
transferred to treatment or holding centers, he added.
A
Dutch naval vessel arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, on
Thursday stocked with medical supplies and two laboratories that will be
staffed by Dutch experts and managed by Save the Children and the
U.K.'s foreign assistance arm. The supplies were provided by nine
European Union countries, according to Hans Docter, the Dutch special
envoy for Ebola.
The Dutch
government will soon announce an additional 10 million euros ($12.4
million) for NGOs working on the Ebola fight, Docter said.
WHO
announced Friday that Congo's separate Ebola outbreak was officially
over after 42 days passed with no new cases. The outbreak, unrelated to
the one in West Africa, was concentrated in northwest Equateur province
and killed at least 49 people, according to local officials. Congo
declared the outbreak over earlier this month.
___
AP
writer Michelle Faul in Gueckedou, Guinea, Clarence Roy-Macaulay in
Freetown, Sierra Leone and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this
report.
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