It is noted that the former employee of the institute was responsible for maintaining the production and control strains of viruses that are stored at the National Center for Microorganism Strains in Ukraine. “Having access to them, she appropriated dangerous strains of viruses that are defined as causative agents of infectious animal diseases and can quickly spread on a large scale regardless of state borders,” the message says.
According to the investigation, the woman took out from the institute bottles with a virus strain of a particularly dangerous disease – Newcastle poultry disease. To hide the shortage, the head of the institute’s sector violated the method of obtaining the main seed culture of viruses, deliberately reducing the number of initial samples to obtain a new passage – infecting a sensitive cell in order to obtain a new population of the virus from it, did not return them to the storage of microorganisms, and appropriated part of the new material.
“The suspect illegally stored the indicated strains of the virus for the purpose of further sale at the place of her residence,” the Attorney General’s Office said, noting that the vials with the virus strains were found during a search of her house in the refrigerator.
It is emphasized that the former employee caused damage to the institute by her actions. She was informed about the suspicion of taking possession of someone else’s property through abuse of office (part 2 of article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The woman faces up to 3 years in prison. Now the question of choosing a preventive measure is being decided.
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