Hendra virus clinic may get government help

NEWS.com.au - Australia



Rosemary Odgers and Janelle Miles

August 04, 2008 12:00am

THE State Government may come to the aid of a Redlands veterinary clinic said to be losing $50,000 a week amid an outbreak of the deadly Hendra virus.
Queensland Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin is expected to meet owner Dr David Lovell today to discuss options to save the clinic.

Dr Lovell says the clinic is losing $50,000 a week.

Two Redlands workers - veterinarian Ben Cunneen and a senior nurse - yesterday remained "very ill" in Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital after being admitted more than two weeks ago with the disease.

Six horses have died in two unrelated Hendra virus outbreaks at the Redlands clinic and at Proserpine, in the state's north, in the past month. Both sites remain under quarantine.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg yesterday called for the Redlands clinic to be given government assistance, saying the business was an innocent bystander caught up in the Hendra outbreak.

Premier Anna Bligh said the Government would consider what assistance it could provide but stopped short of promising taxpayer funding, describing the case as "very unusual".

Government sources said giving just one business rescue money could set a dangerous precedent.

Unlike the equine flu outbreak, where the Federal Government released a $110million aid package, an entire industry has not been affected.

"We've been working every day with this clinic to make sure firstly that the staff are as safe as we can make them and that the spread of this virus is contained," Ms Bligh said.

"The long-term outcome for this business is now something that we will sit down personally with Dr Lovell and see if there is anything we can do to assist."

Ms Bligh said the Government would also consider funding more research into the virus, which is transmitted to horses by fruit bats.

Infectious disease experts say only people who have close contact with infected horses are at risk of contracting it and the virus is not easily transmitted from horse to human. No cases of human-to-human transmission have been recorded.