It sounds bananas, but authorities in India say a troop of monkeys attacked a medical official and stole blood samples belonging to patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Earlier this week, a lab technician at a state-run medical college in Meerut was walking across campus when some rhesus macaques converged on him.
The monkeys then snatched away blood samples that the lab tech was carrying that came from four COVID-19 patients who are undergoing treatment, according to Reuters .
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a monkey chewing on one of the sample collection kits while sitting at the top of a tree, according to India.com.
In addition, the monkeys left parts of the stolen kits scattered on the ground, concerning local officials.
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Dr. S. K. Garg, an official at the college where the monkey attack occurred, told Reuters he wasnt sure if the monkeys might contract the coronavirus if they have come into contact with infected blood.
No evidence has been found that monkeys can contract the infection, Garg said.
SkyNews reports that since lockdown measures were imposed two months ago in the area, monkeys have been congregating in places that are normally crowded with humans.
However, some observers believe that many of the primates are struggling because the human food they normally consume has been severely reduced.
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Naturally, Twitter users went ape for the story.
Just when you thought today couldnt get any weirder: agang of monkeys attacked a laboratory assistant in #India and escaped with a batch of #coronavirus blood test samples.https://t.co/6Bv8GCncdQ
Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) May 29, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Dr. Dena Grayson","author_url":"https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson","cache_age":86400,"description":"Just when you thought today couldnt get any weirder: agang of monkeys attacked a laboratory assistant in #India and escaped with a batch of #coronavirus blood test samples.https://t.co/6Bv8GCncdQ Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) May 29, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Dr. Dena Grayson on 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Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) May 29, 2020
Did anyone have Monkeys attacking lab assistant on their bingo card? i had pigs with AR -15s and Murder Hornets but no Monkeys making off with slide samples https://t.co/lUkrzl7aNZ
Raquel Perazzo (@raquelmperazzo) May 29, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Raquel Perazzo","author_url":"https://twitter.com/raquelmperazzo","cache_age":86400,"description":"Did anyone have Monkeys attacking lab assistant on their bingo card? i had pigs with AR -15s and Murder Hornets but no Monkeys making off with slide samples https://t.co/lUkrzl7aNZ Raquel Perazzo (@raquelmperazzo) May 29, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Raquel Perazzo on 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News","slug":"world-news"},"topic":{"title":"India","slug":"india","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/india"},{"name":"Monkeys","slug":"monkeys","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/monkeys","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/monkeys","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/monkeys"},"department":{"name":"Impact","slug":"impact"},"section":{"title":"Environment","slug":"green"},"topic":{"title":"Monkeys","slug":"monkeys","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/impact/topic/monkeys"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">Did anyone have Monkeys attacking lab assistant on their bingo card? i had pigs with AR -15s and Murder Hornets but no Monkeys making off with slide samples https://t.co/lUkrzl7aNZ
Raquel Perazzo (@raquelmperazzo) May 29, 2020
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Coronavirus: Monkeys 'escape with COVID-19 samples' after attacking lab assistant | World News | Sky News...
And 2020 wins award for most disaster movie opening sequences in real life, ever https://t.co/kmt9JLau3e
Coronavirus: Monkeys 'escape with COVID-19 samples' after attacking lab assistant | World News | Sky News...
Adrian Schiller (@Grumbletwat) May 29, 2020
And 2020 wins award for most disaster movie opening sequences in real life, ever https://t.co/kmt9JLau3e
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