{"id":146532,"date":"2016-05-30T11:31:04","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T01:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=146532"},"modified":"2020-10-13T15:44:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T05:44:49","slug":"vet-pleads-guilty-in-hendra-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/05\/30\/vet-pleads-guilty-in-hendra-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Vet Pleads Guilty In Hendra Case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Vets wearing protecting equipment while handling a horse (Photo: Pfizer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 30, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

No conviction was recorded but the vet was ordered to pay legal fees and court costs.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Hendra virus can be passed from an infected horse to a human and has killed four people since its discovery in 1994.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n