Virus samples go missing from a lab in Australia in ‘major’ biosecurity breach

Tons of of samples of three viruses have gone lacking from a Queensland laboratory.

About 323 samples of Hendra virus, Lyssavirus and Hantavirus are nonetheless unaccounted for after going lacking from Queensland’s Public Well being Virology Laboratory in August 2023.

The lab has been unable to verify if the viruses had been taken from safe storage or destroyed. 

‘With such a critical breach of biosecurity protocols and infectious virus samples probably lacking, Queensland Well being should examine what occurred and stop it from taking place once more,’ Well being Minister Tim Nicholls informed the Courier Mail.

Retired Supreme Courtroom Justice Martin Daubney will lead an Investigation into how the pattern went lacking. 

Mr Julian Druce, who was beforehand head of the Virus Identification Lab on the Victorian Infectious Illness Reference Laboratory, has been appointed as co-investigator.

Mr Nicholls mentioned the Well being Division have suggested him measures have been taken to make sure such a factor doesn’t occur once more. 

These measures embody retraining workers to make sure compliance with laws and an audit of all related permits to make sure accountability and proper storage of supplies.

Queensland Chief Well being Officer John Gerrard mentioned the chance to Queenslanders from the apparently misplaced samples was minimal.

‘It is troublesome to conceive of a situation whereby the general public may very well be in danger,’ Dr Gerrard mentioned.

‘It is essential to notice that virus samples would degrade very quickly outdoors a low temperature freezer and turn out to be non-infectious.

‘It is probably that the samples had been destroyed by autoclaving as is routine laboratory observe and never adequately recorded.

‘It is not possible that samples had been discarded usually waste as this may be utterly outdoors routine laboratory observe.

‘Importantly, no Hendra or Lyssavirus instances have been detected amongst people in Queensland over the previous 5 years, and there have been no reviews of Hantavirus infections in people ever in Australia.’