Hendra virus treatment to be ready in a few months

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJul 14 2010

Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

Of the dozen people who were exposed to a horse infected with the Hendra virus, 11 have been cleared of the infection by repeated tests on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. These 12 people had first come into contact with the infected horse at Tewantin in May and have since then been subjected to testing to rule out infection with the deadly virus. It is expected that the 12^th person will also be cleared soon. Quarantine restrictions were also lifted last month.

In yet another development, researchers from Queensland are working towards a successful human treatment of Hendra virus infection that will be ready in another six months time. The new treatment will have monoclonal antibodies against the virus. In May Sunshine Coast woman Rebecca Day and her 12-year-old daughter Mollie were given this drug as a trial. The mother and daughter duo were exposed to the virus from their horse. The only other person to have received the monoclonal antibody therapy was veterinarian Dr Alistair Rodgers, who died last year from the virus.

Hendra virus usually spreads from bats to horses and then to humans. Four of the seven exposed have died. Symptoms of Hendra virus in humans include flu-like illness, brain inflammation, high fevers, headache and drowsiness. There have been 14 Hendra outbreaks in Australia since 1994, killing more than 40 horses. All of the human deaths have happened in Queensland. Now the CSIRO is also working on a vaccine for horses

According to Queensland Health chief medical officer Jeannette Young the drug, originally developed in the US is still in its preliminary stages and has not been tested on humans extensively. However its efficacy has been proved in ferrets and monkeys. She emphasized that prevention is the key stone. She said, “It wasn't produced under the conditions that we would normally want a human therapy to be produced under… It's not an alternative to prevention. The best way is (for people) to protect themselves from horses.”

University of Queensland professor Paul Gray explained that the cell line was acquired from the US and the team was working towards 99.995 per cent pure human antibodies. He said, “We will get a preparation that is world-standard in respect to purity…We're working up a process so we can make large amounts in the future, if we needed it.”