May 30, 2016
A Gold Coast veterinarian has been placed on a two-year $3000 good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to failing to meet workplace health and safety standards while drawing a blood sample from a horse suspected of having Hendra virus.
No conviction was recorded but the vet was ordered to pay legal fees and court costs.
Magistrate Joan White conceded that although the defendant had taken steps he believed were adequate to prevent infection, they did not meet the required risk control standards.
Workplace health and safety laws set out specific guidelines on procedures for treatment, including what protective gear must be used, when dealing with animals suspected of carrying a virus that can be passed on to humans.
Hendra virus can be passed from an infected horse to a human and has killed four people since its discovery in 1994.
The court was told that in this instance, both the vet and the horse’s owner were tested and subsequently cleared of having Hendra virus.
A Workplace Health and Safety Queensland spokesman said two more Hendra virus-related veterinarian prosecutions were due to be heard in the Southport Magistrates Court on September 26 and in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on November 14.
- Related article: MP Calls For Crisis Meetings About Hendra
