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committee's Report

The committee's report on the Inquiry was tabled on 21 October 2016. The Minister tabled an interim response on 24 January 2017. The Queensland Government response to the Inquiry  was tabled on 21 April 2017.

View: Report No. 24, 55th Parliament – Hendra virus EquiVac® vaccine and its use by veterinary surgeons in Queensland and Corrigendum
View: Queensland Government's interim response to the report 
View: Queensland Government's response to the report

ABOUT THE INQUIRY

On 25 February 2016 the Legislative Assembly agreed to a motion that the Agriculture and Environment Committee inquire into and report on the Hendra virus (HeV) EquiVac® vaccine and its use by veterinary surgeons in Queensland.

In undertaking the inquiry, the committee is required to consider:

• the development, trials and approval processes;
• the incidence and impact of adverse reactions by horses following vaccination and the reporting of adverse reactions and economic impacts of the HeV EquiVacc® vaccine;
• who bears the risks of HeV infection and who incurs the costs and receives the benefits from each risk mitigation option;
• whether the guidelines/procedures required for veterinarians attending horses that are not vaccinated against HeV are proportionate to the consequences;
• impacts on the equine industry and the economy arising from veterinarians applying a policy not to treat unvaccinated horses; and
• the impact of Workplace Health and Safety actions on the decision by veterinarians not to attend unvaccinated horses and results of previous Workplace Health and Safety HeV investigations where there have been human infections.

The motion for the inquiry was moved by the Leader of the House, Hon Stirling Hinchliffe MP.

View: Parliamentary hearings to examine Hendra virus vaccine - 24 June 2016  
View: Committee recommends against mandatory Hendra vaccinations - 21 October 2016 

The committee invited horse owners, veterinarians and others who may know of a horse death that may have been connected to an adverse reaction to the HeV vaccine, to fill out a short survey form. The survey closed on 7 October 2016.  

Survey of Horse Deaths

The survey was designed to assist the committee to understand how adverse reactions to the HeV vaccine have been reported and handled, and to identify any deaths that may not have been reported and to document the circumstances in which those deaths occurred. 

View: Survey Form

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) published a Summary of adverse experience reports made to the APVMA about Hendra virus vaccine on its website.  This summary included information about the numbers and ‘reaction incidence’, or risks, of adverse reactions calculated using the numbers of doses administered.  From the 440,438 doses of the vaccine administered to 31 March 2016, the APVMA has classified only seven (7) horse deaths as ‘possibly’ related to an adverse reaction to the vaccine.  No deaths have been classified as ‘probably’ related to the vaccine. The APVMA summary also includes information about the classifications used by the APVMA and how they are determined.

View: Summary of adverse experience reports made to the APVMA about Hendra virus vaccine

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions closed on 29 April 2016

TimeLINE

Public briefings                                      22 March 2016 (transcript)
Cairns public hearings                          4 July 2016 (transcript)
Jimboomba public hearings                5 July 2016 (transcript)
Brisbane public hearings                     6 July 2016 (transcript) 
Redlands public hearing                      6 July 2016 (transcript)
Nambour public hearings                    7 July 2016 (transcript)
North Rockhampton public hearings 7 July 2016 (transcript)
Brisbane private hearing                     17 August 2016 
Brisbane public hearing                      31 August 2016 (transcript)
Report tabled                                      22 October 2016