Australian authorities are investigating how hundreds of potentially deadly virus samples disappeared from a laboratory in a major breach of biosecurity protocol. The incident occurred at Queensland’s Public Health Virology Laboratory in 2021.
Now, the government is calling for an investigation to prevent future incidents.
The vials, which included samples of Hendra virus, lyssavirus and hantavirus, went missing after a freezer storing the vials broke down.
The laboratory uncovered the breach of protocol in August 2023. Queensland Health said it is unsure whether someone removed the vials from secure storage or if someone destroyed them. Officials said there was a mistake in record keeping.
Even though 323 vials are still missing, Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said there’s no risk to the public.
“I want to stress that there have been no public health incidents linked to these materials,” Nicholls said at a press conference Sunday, Dec. 8. “So, we have no evidence so far of any event occurring as a result of the loss or destruction of these materials.”
The investigation will look at internal policies and guidelines on how virus samples are kept in the lab, Nicholls said.
The Hendra virus can spread from animals to people, but its natural hosts are “flying fox” bats. In 1994, the virus swept through racing stables, killing a trainer and 13 horses. More than 60 known outbreaks occurred since then.
Hantavirus is spread from animals to people, but no human cases in Australia have been reported.
Lyssavirus is a deadly disease similar to the rabies virus.
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