REDLANDS Veterinary Clinic owner David Lovell has opened a temporary equine clinic in Beaudesert to offset losses while his Thornlands practice is in quarantine due to the Hendra Virus.
The equine section of the Boundary Road practice was shut down two weeks ago after the rare but deadly infected three horses, two of which had to be put down.
It’s now been determined the virus was responsible for the death of a fourth horse on June 26.
Two staff members who worked closely with the sick animals have also contracted the disease.
Vet Ben Cunneen and a senior nurse remain in the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Princess Alexandra Hospital after being admitted last week.
Dr Lovell said he was speaking to the victims’ families twice daily and the majority of his staff had been to the hospital to visit.
“It’s reassuring to be able to be going in and talking to them,” Dr Lovell said.
“I think one (of the ill staff members) is a bit depressed, but the other seems reasonably bright.
“Unfortunately no one is sure how the disease will manifest.”
Up to 50 other staff at the clinic will undergo a second round of testing today to determine whether they too have contracted the disease, which killed two people in the mid-1990s.
Dr Lovell said it had been a fortnight since the last horse became sick, so he was “sort of optimistic” no other staff were infected.
“The first issue is containing the disease and the second is getting back to business,” he said.
“Everyone is just devastated that anyone is affected by the virus and they’re also concerned about their futures because we don’t have any work.
The practice will not reopen until tests – to be conducted on Wednesday – confirm 37 horses at the clinic have not contracted the disease.
“It’s dreadful because we had the EI and that shut everything down and then we got back on track and the business was really growing, and this happened,” Dr Lovell said.
“At best, I think we’ll be open in two weeks here and longer if there is a hiccup with the horses. After that there’s still going to be a bit of hesitation for people to come back here.”
Dr Lovell yesterday opened an interim hospital facility at Wadham Park near Beaudesert to offer staff employment and bring in some much needed income to the practice, which has been running on skeleton staff for the past fortnight.
He said it cost $200,000 a month to keep the practice open and while the small animals clinic was still bringing in revenue, the equine clinic was by far the biggest earner.
He said the past two weeks had been very stressful but he and his wife Gail had been buoyed by the support shown by the Redland community.
“It’s unbelievable the number of cards and emails we’ve had,” Dr Lovell said.
“It’s very gratifying that we’ve had so many expressions of sympathy.”
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