A troop of monkeys in India attacked a medical official and snatched away blood samples of patients who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Reuters reported.

The attack occurred this week when a laboratory technician was walking in the campus of a state-run medical college in Meerut, 460 km north of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state.

“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,” said Dr S. K. Garg, a top official at the college.

Authorities said they were not clear if the monkeys had spilled the blood samples, but people living near the leafy campus feared further spread of the virus if the monkeys carried the samples into residential areas.