Hendra virus puts the horse world on high alert again

An outbreak of Hendra virus in Queensland is causing concern among the equine community.

The deadly virus has already caused the death of two horses on a property of a Brisbane veterinarian, of three horses affected, one has died and one, a racehorse, has been put down.

The vet, Dr. David Lovelle says while he is confident the virus has been contained, 37 horses on the property are being monitored and he believes the outbreak is an isolated case.

Biosecurity Queensland is disinfecting the vet's Redlands Clinic and says the cases should not be confused with equine influenza as there is no relationship between the two.

Twenty-five of the clinic staff staff on Brisbane's south-east outskirts have been tested to see if they are infected and according to Dr. Lovelle the main concern is that one of the horses might be incubating the disease which could develop in a day or so.

Queensland Health says of the state's four recorded human cases of Hendra virus, two were fatal and the infection was the result of close contact with sick horses - there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

In the first recorded outbreak of the Hendra virus worldwide, the virus killed the well known trainer Vic Rail and 14 horses in 1994 and is named after the Brisbane suburb in which it was first discovered.

The culprit in that first outbreak proved to be a pregnant mare who infected another 19 horses, killing 13.

Vic Rail and a stable hand were involved in nursing the pregnant mare and both fell ill within one week of the horse’s death with an influenza-like illness - while the stable hand recovered, Rail died of respiratory and renal failure.

The Hendra virus is carried by fruit bats and is only rarely transmitted to horses. Human infections result from direct exposure to tissues and secretions from infected horses.

This is the ninth recorded outbreak in Queensland since 1994 and the most serious to date.

In 1995 a farmer who had been in close contact with sick horses died, a horse near Cairns died in 1999 and another near Townsville in 2004.

Of the three human cases of Hendra virus disease two of the three individuals had a respiratory illness with severe flu-like signs and symptoms. Laboratory tests are used to diagnose Hendra virus.

Hendra virus is a close cousin of the Nipah virus also carried by fruit bats which is capable of causing illness and death in domestic animals and humans.

The Nipah virus is transmitted to humans, cats, and dogs through close contact with infected pigs.

No other horses still on the Brisbane property have as yet shown any symptoms of Hendra virus and Biosecurity Queensland chief vet Dr Ron Glanville says there is no comparison to last year's horse flu outbreak and no lock down of the horse industry is expected.

The outbreak is not expected to have any impact on the Brisbane Ekka show where more than 2,500 horses will compete and organisers remain confident the show will not be affected by the outbreak.

Dr Glanville says the Brisbane Bayside property has been quarantined and there are no implications for the Ekka show.