A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: 20 May 2010
Source: ABC News, Australia [edited]
Horse dies from Hendra virus
----------------------------
A horse has died in another outbreak of the hendra virus in
Queensland. It has been confirmed a horse has been put down at
Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast after falling ill on Monday [17 May
2010]. Queensland Health (QH) says there is no indication any of the
people on the property have contracted the virus.
Chief veterinary officer Dr Ron Glanville told reporters up to 7
people could have been in contact with the horse before it died. He
said the property owner noticed the horse's condition on Monday
morning and a vet, wearing protective equipment due to his suspicion
of hendra virus, examined the horse.
Dr Glanville said there was a bat colony in the area. The natural
host for hendra virus in Australia is the flying fox, but it is not
clear how horses become infected.
A horse lives on the adjoining property but is not believed to be under threat.
Queensland Horse Council president Debbie Dekker said most people
believed the misconception that the hendra virus was seasonal,
coinciding with the flying fox breeding season between June and
August, because previous hendra outbreaks occurred during that time.
"We are fearful people get complacent because they think the hendra
virus is seasonal, but this is proof that this is not the case," she 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 which means it
can happen anytime."
To date 4 people have died out of 7 who contracted the virus in Queensland.
--
Communicated by:
Dr Alexandra Volosinas
[It should be quickly pointed out that at this time no people in the
area are ill. - Mod.MHJ]
["Hendra virus (formerly called equine morbillivirus) is a member of
the family _Paramyxoviridae_. The virus was 1st isolated in 1994 from
specimens obtained during an outbreak of respiratory and neurologic
disease in horses and humans in Hendra, a suburb of Brisbane,
Australia. The natural reservoir for Hendra virus is thought to be
flying foxes (bats of the genus _Pteropus_) found in
Australia. Hendra virus does not transmit readily between animals
other than flying foxes.
"Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) research has shown that
horses, cats and guinea pigs can excrete virus in their urine. Hendra
virus has been transmitted to people through close contact with
infected horses or their body fluids. To date, no human-to-human
transmission of Hendra virus has been documented.
"Horses are the only species of domestic animal that can be naturally
infected with Hendra virus. Infections in horses range from
asymptomatic infection to fatal respiratory and neurological
syndromes. For fatal cases, the course of illness takes an average of two days.
"Symptoms of Hendra virus infection in horses are not dramatically
different from other respiratory and neurological illnesses of
horses. Hendra should be suspected if there is also the proximity of
bats, or the presence of human cases of acute respiratory distress
syndrome or encephalitis. Generally Hendra virus outbreaks in horses
occur one to 2 weeks before illness in humans; detected outbreaks in
horses could trigger prevention measures to deter associated
outbreaks in humans.
"The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms)
in horses varies between 5 and 16 days. The case fatality rate in
horses is about 75 percent.
"Spill-over of Hendra virus from fruit bats to horses is rare. The
transmission route is likely through contamination of pasture or feed
by infected birthing fluids or fetal tissues from bats.
"There have also been 13 clusters of Hendra virus infection recorded
in horses since the virus was 1st identified.
"Human infections with Hendra virus range from mild influenza-like
illness to fatal respiratory or neurological disease. Infected people
initially develop fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), sore
throat and a dry cough. They have also have enlarged lymph nodes,
lethargy and vertigo.
"The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms)
ranges from 5 to 14 days. To date, there have been 7 confirmed human
cases including 4 deaths."
(the above information is a composite of information cited from the
CDC website
CSIRO website
WHO website
[see also:
Hendra virus, swine vector potential 20100203.0366
2009
----
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (05): (QL) 20090910.3189
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (04): (QL) fatal 20090903.3098
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (03): (QL) 20090830.3052
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (02): (QL) 20090826.2998
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia: (QL) 20090821.2963
Hendra virus, equine - Australia (02): (QL), RFI 20090820.2943
Hendra virus, equine - Australia: (QL) 20090811.2862
2008
----
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (07): (QLD) 20080821.2606
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (06): (QLD) 20080820.2592
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (05): (QLD) 20080816.2548
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (04): (QLD) 20080725.2260
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (03): (QLD) 20080720.2201
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (02): (QLD,NSW) 20080717.2168
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia: (QLD) 20080715.2146
2007
----
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (QLD) (04): 2nd corr. 20070903.2903
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (QLD) (04): 2nd corr. 20070903.2902
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (QLD) (03): corr. 20070903.2897
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (QLD) (03): corr. 20070903.2896
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (QLD) (02): not 20070831.2871
Hendra virus, human, equine - Australia (QLD): RFI 20070830.2851
2004
----
Hendra virus - Australia (QLD) 20041214.3307]
..........................mpp/mhj/ejp/mpp
*##########################################################*
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment