ID :
16674
Fri, 08/22/2008 - 17:43
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https://oananews.org//node/16674
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Hendra death prompts independent review
(AAP) The death of a Brisbane-based veterinarian from the Hendra virus has sparked calls for a broad-ranging public inquiry into biosecurity in Queensland.
The state government has announced an independent review of the Department of Primary Industries' (DPI's) response to the outbreak, but the opposition wants awider, public inquiry into DPI funding.
Horse industry stakeholders also will be sent draft Terms of Reference for a reviewof the latest cases of Hendra virus.
The document will include a review of the DPI's standard operating procedures andstandards for veterinarians handling suspected Hendra virus cases.
Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin says the process of appointing an independent consultant to head the review is underway and it is expected a qualifiedperson will be secured next week.
"The consultant will be asked to report on the findings by the end of October," MrMulherin said.
Senior equine vet Ben Cunneen, 33, died on Wednesday in a Brisbane hospital after amonth in intensive care.
Dr Cunneen was one of several staff at the Redlands Veterinary Clinic involved in treating five horses which either died or had to be put down after contracting amutated strand of the virus.
He is the third person to die from the virus since the first known outbreak in 1994.
Queensland Health continues to monitor a nurse, a colleague of Dr Cunneen's, who tested positive to the virus, as well as a DPI vet who accidentally pricked herselfwith a needle while putting down a horse that had recovered from the virus.
Both women have been released from hospital.
The Queensland opposition wants a broader public inquiry into the DPI and biosecurity funding, arguing the latest outbreak shows the need for better systemsto assure safety.
"It is time that there was an independent inquiry," opposition frontbencher FionaSimpson said.
"There are questions about how the government has handled this and how their own services have responded, and it's time there were better systems put in place," shesaid.
Meanwhile, the DPI is yet to make a decision on the fate of a horse that has recovered from the virus in another outbreak at a north Queensland property nearProserpine.
It is the third horse from the same Cannonvale property to contract the virus andthe only one to survive.
A DPI spokesman said it was likely the Cannonvale horse would be put down because offears it could still be incubating the virus.
A Gold Coast race horse named Tamworth was euthanased last Friday, despite havingrecovered from the virus, because it was considered a biosecurity threat.
A post-mortem examination found traces of the virus in tissue from the horse, eventhough its latest blood tests returned negative results.
Hendra virus is transmitted from bats to horses and then to humans, who developflu-like symptoms, drowsiness and balance problems.
There has been no human-to-human transmission, but authorities have admitted toknowing little about the potentially deadly virus.
The state government has announced an independent review of the Department of Primary Industries' (DPI's) response to the outbreak, but the opposition wants awider, public inquiry into DPI funding.
Horse industry stakeholders also will be sent draft Terms of Reference for a reviewof the latest cases of Hendra virus.
The document will include a review of the DPI's standard operating procedures andstandards for veterinarians handling suspected Hendra virus cases.
Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin says the process of appointing an independent consultant to head the review is underway and it is expected a qualifiedperson will be secured next week.
"The consultant will be asked to report on the findings by the end of October," MrMulherin said.
Senior equine vet Ben Cunneen, 33, died on Wednesday in a Brisbane hospital after amonth in intensive care.
Dr Cunneen was one of several staff at the Redlands Veterinary Clinic involved in treating five horses which either died or had to be put down after contracting amutated strand of the virus.
He is the third person to die from the virus since the first known outbreak in 1994.
Queensland Health continues to monitor a nurse, a colleague of Dr Cunneen's, who tested positive to the virus, as well as a DPI vet who accidentally pricked herselfwith a needle while putting down a horse that had recovered from the virus.
Both women have been released from hospital.
The Queensland opposition wants a broader public inquiry into the DPI and biosecurity funding, arguing the latest outbreak shows the need for better systemsto assure safety.
"It is time that there was an independent inquiry," opposition frontbencher FionaSimpson said.
"There are questions about how the government has handled this and how their own services have responded, and it's time there were better systems put in place," shesaid.
Meanwhile, the DPI is yet to make a decision on the fate of a horse that has recovered from the virus in another outbreak at a north Queensland property nearProserpine.
It is the third horse from the same Cannonvale property to contract the virus andthe only one to survive.
A DPI spokesman said it was likely the Cannonvale horse would be put down because offears it could still be incubating the virus.
A Gold Coast race horse named Tamworth was euthanased last Friday, despite havingrecovered from the virus, because it was considered a biosecurity threat.
A post-mortem examination found traces of the virus in tissue from the horse, eventhough its latest blood tests returned negative results.
Hendra virus is transmitted from bats to horses and then to humans, who developflu-like symptoms, drowsiness and balance problems.
There has been no human-to-human transmission, but authorities have admitted toknowing little about the potentially deadly virus.
