As the world becomes more developed, we start to clear areas like forests and jungles to pave way for new developments. As a result, animals lose their homes and start wandering into urban areas, and unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to unintended consequences. Take for example over in India, where a troop of monkeys attacked a medical officer and stole some coronavirus blood samples.According to the reports, a lab technician was walking in the campus at a medical college in Meerut, India, where a troop of monkeys descended upon the technician and grabbed the blood samples of four coronavirus patients who were undergoing treatment. According to Dr S. K. Garg, one of the college’s officials, “Monkeys grabbed and fled with the blood samples of four COVID-19 patients who are undergoing treatment … we had to take their blood samples again.”
It is unclear if the monkeys knew what they were taking or if they had spilled the blood samples, but people staying near the campus were worried about the spread of the virus if the monkeys were to carry the samples into residential areas. There is also some concern as to whether or not the monkeys could contract the disease.
According to Garg, to date there has been no evidence that monkeys can contract the virus. However, given how “new” this virus is and the current pandemic, we understand if there are some out there who might be worried anyway.
Filed in . Read more about Coronavirus and Covid-19. Source: reuters