Samples of three deadly viruses vanished from a secure facility and no one noticed for years
Over 300 vials containing live samples of three viruses with high mortality rates went missing from a Queensland laboratory in 2021, but the Australian authorities only confirmed the breech on Monday.
The vials became unaccounted for after a freezer at Queensland’s Public Health Virology Laboratory broke down sometime in 2021. The discrepancy was discovered in August 2023, but it took until Monday for official confirmation of the incident to emerge.
The missing samples were identified as Hantavirus, Hendra virus and Lyssavirus.
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said it was “difficult to conceive of a scenario” in which the public could be at risk, pointing to the lack of reports about infections over the past five years.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 10, 2024
