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The Queensland government will euthanase a racehorse that recovered from the potentially deadly Hendra virus despite a plea from its owner not to.

The Queensland government will euthanase a racehorse that recovered from the potentially deadly Hendra virus despite a plea from its owner not to.

The horse, named Tamworth, recovered after contracting the Hendra virus early last month in an outbreak at the Redlands Veterinary Clinic on Brisbane's bayside.

Co-owner Warren Small ignored a deadline on Thursday to destroy the horse under national guidelines, vowing to fight to overturn the government's directive.

He had instead wanted the horse kept in quarantine for 12 months and studied.

But a spokesman for the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries said the horse would be destroyed by government staff to stop the potential further infection of horses and humans.

Two staff members from the clinic - a veterinarian and a senior vet nurse - remain in hospital after becoming infected.

Four horses at the clinic died, along with another two on a Proserpine property in the state's north that also were infected with the virus.