Investigation Underway as Queensland Lab Loses Deadly Virus Samples

This photo taken on July 20, 2011 shows fruit bats as they hang from a tree in Gayndah, South Eastern Queensland. Horses in Queensland and New South Wales were previously infected with the 'Hendra' virus carried by bats. John Wilson/AFP via Getty Images

Queensland authorities have launched an urgent investigation into the whereabouts of 323 virus samples missing from a government-run high-tech Virology Laboratory.

The incident, called “a serious breach of biosecurity,” happened in 2021, but was only discovered in 2023. The laboratory is involved in researching infectious viruses caught from mosquitoes and ticks.

The lost material includes 100 samples of the deadly Hendra virus, along with lyssavirus and hantavirus. They appear to have gone missing after a freezer storing the samples broke down.

Hendra virus is a zoonotic disease, meaning people can catch it from animals. It got its name after it killed 13 horses and a trainer at racing stables in the Brisbane suburb of Hendra in 1994. It is passed on by fruit bats.

Since then, there have been 66 known outbreaks across Australia, killing four more people and dozens of horses.

The missing materials also include 223 samples of lyssavirus, another potentially deadly disease similar to rabies. It is transmitted through a bite from an infected (rabid) animal.

Two samples of hantavirus, which has never been recorded in humans in Australia, are also missing. It can be contracted from contact with rodents such as rats and mice, especially when exposed to their urine, droppings, and saliva.

Lost in Transit

Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls, announcing what’s called a “Part 9” investigation, said the breach was uncovered in August 2023, and the lab has been unable to say whether the materials were removed or destroyed.

“It’s this part of the transfer of those materials that is causing concern,” Nicholls said.

“They were transferred to a functioning freezer without the appropriate paperwork being completed. The materials may have been removed from that secure storage and lost, or otherwise unaccounted for.”

He said the samples had not been taken or stolen from the laboratory, even though health authorities, the lab, and the government cannot confirm what had happened.

Nicholls has appointed former Supreme Court Justice Martin Daubney KC, who will come out of retirement to lead the investigation alongside Julian Druce, formerly the head of Virus Identification Lab in Victoria.

Asked why the public was not made aware of the breach sooner, Nicholls said that would form part of the review.

“These are all matters that I think the investigation will be able to provide us with information on,” he said.

“With such a serious breach of biosecurity protocols and infectious virus samples potentially missing, Queensland Health must investigate what occurred and how to prevent it from happening again.”

Staff Conduct to be Examined

The minister said the investigation will ensure nothing has been overlooked in responding to the incident and examine the current policies and procedures in operation at the laboratory.

“This investigation will also consider regulatory compliance and staff conduct,” he said.

Its terms of reference will consider the “management, administration, or delivery of public sector health services in the laboratory.”

Policies and guidelines on virus storage in the lab will be analysed to see if they were correctly followed.

Recommendations will be made in a report to the state health department by June 30, next year.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the risk to the public from the incident was minimal.

“It’s important to note that virus samples would degrade very rapidly outside a low-temperature freezer and become non-infectious,” he explained.

“No Hendra or lyssavirus cases have been detected among humans in Queensland over the past five years, and there has been no report of hantavirus infections in humans ever in Australia.”