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Biosecurity News in Brief
Australia Research Facility to Study Animal Diseases; Hendra Virus Cases Increase in AustraliaBy Kunal Rambhia, September 8, 2008 On September 2, 2008, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Australian government and the University of Queensland will be collaborating in a newly opened biosecurity research facility to study the diseases that might affect the agriculture industry.1 According to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Queensland, Paul Greenfield, the new facility represents heightened concerns about “how these [diseases] can be prevented and if they do occur how they can be minimized.”1 The new facility will give Australia the capability to research diseases such as the Hendra virus and equine influenza. In related news, Mercury, the Voice of Tasmania, reported the death of a veterinarian who was infected with a new variety of the Hendra virus while examining a dead horse. One other worker at the same location tested positive for the virus but has survived and been released from the hospital. The article noted that this represents the third human death due to the Hendra virus reported in Australia.2 References
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