The Australian Hendra horse virus is still causing concern since the initial outbreak in July as a female veterinarian who euthanised a racehorse infected with the potentially deadly virus is now being monitored in hospital after an accidental needle stick injury.
According to the Department of Primary Industries the vet was admitted to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra hospital last Friday and is currently being monitored for any Hendra-related symptoms at the hospital and waiting for the results of blood tests.
The horse, a thoroughbred, had recovered from the virus but was deemed a biosecurity threat and was the fifth horse to either die or be put down at a Brisbane clinic.
The vet is the third person to be hospitalised since the outbreak at the Redlands Veterinary Clinic, a male vet and a female vet nurse who worked at the clinic remain in hospital after being admitted last month after contracting the virus; both were involved in the autopsies of the infected horses.
The clinic remains under strict quarantine control and is at the centre of the worst outbreak of the virus since the death of horse trainer Vic Rail in 1994.
Tests conducted on more than 30 other horses at the clinic were apparently inconclusive and an investigation will be launched by workplace health and safety officers into how the needle stick injury occurred; Hendra is carried by native fruit bats and humans can contract it from infected horses.
Biosecurity Queensland chief veterinary officer Dr. Ron Glanville says blood tests on the horse had returned negative for Hendra virus, which was a hopeful sign for the vet who received the needle stick injury.
The horse Tamworth, was valued at $200,000 and was put down despite a fight to save its life.