Hundreds of Vials of Deadly Viruses Missing After Lab Breach in Australia

Newsweek

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Hundreds of vials containing live viruses have gone missing from a laboratory in Australia, sparking an investigation.

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Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced today that 323 samples of live viruses—including Hendra virus, Lyssavirus and Hantavirus—went missing in 2021 in a "serious breach of biosecurity protocols."

The breach was discovered in August 2023, with nearly 100 of the missing vials containing Hendra virus, which is deadly. Two of the vials contained hantavirus, while 223 vials contained samples of lyssavirus.

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The lab has not been able to conclude if the viruses were destroyed or removed from secure storage, but they do not appear to have been stolen.

"There is nothing to suggest that these have been taken from the laboratory. Secondly […] we don't have any evidence that Hendra virus has been weaponized in any way in any research laboratory," Nicholls said at a press conference.

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"Of course, all this kind of research is taken in secret, but we are not aware that this has been weaponized in any way. The process of weaponizing a virus is very sophisticated, and is not something an amateur does."

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The samples appear to have gone unaccounted for after a freezer they were being stored in at Queensland's Public Health Virology Laboratory broke down.

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According to a statement from the Queensland government, there is "no evidence of risk to the community from the breach," as the viruses would have degraded very quickly and subsequently become harmless to humans.

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"It only took us two years to even discover they were missing, but it is probably okay. Trust us, bro."