Bird virus strains stolen from Ukrainian institute

The former HEAD of the Ukrainian National Institute of Biotechnology and Strains of Microorganisms was suspected of stealing samples of a particularly dangerous bird disease virus from work, which she hid in her refrigerator. This is stated on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office of the country.

“Having access to them, <...> she took vials with a strain of a virus of a particularly dangerous disease, Newcastle bird disease, from the institute’s premises,” the report says.

In order to discreetly assign the strains, the woman cheated with the experiments. Thanks to her manipulations, the employee received new samples of the virus, which she did not return to the repository, but took away for herself. According to investigators, the stolen suspect then wanted to sell.