Australia-Hendra virus hits Tewantin

21st May 2010


Fruit bats spread the deadly Hendra virus.
Brett Wortman


UP to seven people who may have been exposed to a Hendra-infected horse at Tewantin will have to wait six weeks to find out if they are clear of the life-threatening virus.
The sick horse was put down after staff of Cooroy-based vet Ben Poole visited the affected property on Monday.
The horse, reported to be owned by a mother and daughter who kept the horse as a pet, was described as twitching, circling and wobbly.
A positive Hendra virus result was only confirmed yesterday.
Officers from Biosecurity Queensland and Queensland Health were on the property yesterday, talking to the owners and any other people who may have had contact with the horse.
It is the 41st horse to die from the illness, known to be carried by bats and passed on to horses through bodily fluids, since 1994.
Chief veterinary officer Dr Ron Glanville said up to seven people could have been in contact with the horse before it was put down on Monday.
He said the property owner noticed the horse's condition on Monday morning.
Dr Glanville said the vet, who was wearing protective equipment due to his suspicion of Hendra virus, examined the horse.
He said there was a bat colony in the area.
Another horse on the property had not shown any signs of the illness by last night.
Biosecurity officers have quarantined the property as a precautionary measure, with Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin saying the situation was being treated “very seriously”.
“Officers from Biosecurity Queensland will be on the ground in Tewantin tomorrow with information about the Hendra virus," Mr Mulherin said.
Queensland Health Communicable Diseases Branch senior director Dr Christine Selvey said all people who were identified as having been in close contact with the horse, including the owners, would be offered free testing and counselling.
Dr Selvey said there had only been seven confirmed cases of Hendra virus in humans and it was important to note there had been no cases of transmission from human to human.
“Anybody who's potentially come in contact with Hendra virus would be worried.
“And I think it's, obviously, a very scary disease for anybody.”
Dr Selvey said symptoms in humans generally presented within five to 21 days of exposure to the virus.
Queensland Horse Council president Debbie Dekker said most people believed that the Hendra virus was seasonal, coinciding with the flying fox breeding season, from June to August.
“We are fearful people get complacent because they think the Hendra virus is seasonal but this is proof that this is not the case,” Ms Dekker said.
“The fact is we don't know what the stresses are to cause bats to shed the virus. It's circulating in bats at all times – it can happen anytime.”
Four of seven people who have contracted the virus in Queensland have died.
Tewantin-Noosa Pony Club officials did not want to comment on the positive test last night