After the COVID-19 pandemic, we're all a little wary of biosecurity hazards, and the news out of Australia today isn't too comforting. In 2021, 323 vials containing samples of deadly viruses went missing from a lab in Queensland, Australia. The breach wasn't discovered until 2023, and for whatever reason — it sounds like red tape — an investigation is just now underway, over a year later. Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced the news on Monday.
The Australian government is downplaying the threat to public health. Nicholls said in a statement:
I want to stress that there have been no public health incidents linked to these materials, so we have no evidence so far of any event occurring as a result of the loss or the destruction of these materials. The department is taking all necessary steps to ensure that it does have the appropriate regulatory matters in place. It is liaising with the federal record-keeping bodies and the federal accreditation bodies, as well as our own Department of Agriculture. ...it has taken a year to get that accreditation so that the investigations can take place. That investigation, an opening of the locked freezer, took place in 2024, where further review of the materials was kept, and a better record of what was supposed to be in there vs. what was found to be in there was able to be made... It's important that we understand what went wrong. It's important that we understand how it can be done better. And it's important that we reassure the public of Queensland that there has been no evidence of any infection as a result of this breech...
Dr, John Gerrard, Queensland's Chief Health Officer, said that the viruses would "degrade rapidly" outside of a freezer that offered ideal conditions for the samples.
One hundred of the missing vials contain the deadly Hendra virus, two contain the hantavirus, and the remaining vials contain lyssavirus. All three of the viruses are zoonotic diseases, meaning they can be transmitted from animals to humans. According to Newsweek, Hendra virus is a "bat-born viral disease" that was discovered in the 1990s when it killed several Australian horses. While it's rare, it has a high fatality rate of 57%. The World Health Organization reports that symptoms can range from mild and flu-like to severe respiratory and neurological complications. No treatment currently exists, though vaccines are available for horses.
Hantavirus is spread through rodents, and Newsweek reported earlier this year that it had spread to the United States, particularly in the Southwest region. A handful of people in Arizona and California have died from the virus this year. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that people who come in contact with a rat or mouse that carries the virus may experience hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which affects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which impacts the kidneys. It has a 38% mortality rate.
Lyssavirus is a type of rabies specific to Australia that spreads through contact with bats, usually through a bite or a scratch. While rare, it's almost always deadly to humans who contract the virus.
Nichols doesn't believe that the vials were stolen and suggested that it was more of a "transportation" issue. "The materials may have been removed from that secure storage and lost, or otherwise unaccounted-for," he said.
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