Outbreak of potentially deadly Hendra virus in Queensland still a cause for concern

Jul 20 2008

An outbreak of Hendra virus at a Brisbane veterinary clinic has resulted in the deaths of two horses, one died from the virus, another was put down and a third horse has recovered.

Veterinarian Ben Cunneen along with a vet nurse contracted the Hendra virus after treating the horses at the Redlands Veterinary Clinic - the clinic has been placed under quarantine.

Both are reportedly in a stable condition at the Princess Alexandra Hospital while another eight staff members are still waiting for test results.

The clinic has eight vets as well as another twenty ancillary staff, and Queensland Health says all will be tested, along with anyone who had close contact with the horses.

A program of initial testing already under way will be followed by a second round of testing in two weeks time.

It is suspected that the virus was brought onto the property by flying foxes which possibly contaminated the horses' feed with their urine allowing the virus to infect the horses - the infected horses then passed the virus onto the two vet staff.

Following the death of another horse from the virus in the Proserpine area of north Queensland, seven people have also been tested for the virus.

Experts say the Hendra virus has an incubation of 14 days and appears in humans in the form of a flu-like illness.

The Hendra virus was named after a suburb of Brisbane that contains racing stables and was responsible for the death of horse trainer Vic Rail in 1994.

Experts say the Hendra virus is rare in both horses and humans and there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission.