A bag of Covid-19 test samples was found by a member of the public on a road.
The samples were being taken from Caithness General Hospital in Wick to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, according to a statement from NHS Highland.
The bag was found by a member of the public on the A9 near Tain and taken to a local police station.
The health board has said it will investigate how the bag managed to end up on the road.
An NHS Highland spokesman said: “We can confirm that samples being transported from Caithness General Hospital in Wick to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness were found on the A9 near Tain.
“The samples were handed in to the local police station and are now with the laboratory team at Raigmore.
“We are investigating how this could have happened to ensure this will not happen again and would like to reassure everyone that at no point was there a danger to the public from these samples.
“They were packed properly and remained intact.
“We are very grateful to the gentleman who handed the box of samples to the police.”
