فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The Australian government has announced the disappearance of hundreds of deadly virus samples from a laboratory in Queensland, raising concerns about biosecurity and community safety.
According to reports, 323 samples of live viruses have gone missing, including:
- About 100 samples of Hendra virus
- 223 samples of Lassa virus
- Two samples of Hantavirus
The Hendra virus is considered the most dangerous of these viruses, causing death in 57% of human cases. This virus is transmitted from bats to horses, and then can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected horses.
Lassa virus, which belongs to the rabies virus family, can cause flu-like symptoms that rapidly progress to brain inflammation.
The disappearance was discovered in August 2023, but it is believed that the incident occurred in 2021 when one of the freezers malfunctioned. The Queensland government has launched a comprehensive investigation into the incident to determine how this security breach occurred and how to prevent its recurrence in the future.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, health officials have assured that the risk of community exposure is very low, as these viruses degrade quickly outside of the low-temperature freezing environment.
This incident highlights the importance of strengthening biosecurity measures in laboratories dealing with dangerous pathogens and calls for more transparency and oversight in such sensitive facilities.
