DHS supports research into Aussie horse and bat disease
Hendra virus infects horses and bats — but the fatality rate among human beings coming into contact with the animals is high because there is no cure for it; the virus and its relative, the Nipah virus, are so lethal that the United States consider them a homeland security threat; there is fear that terrorists may infect bats and then release them near population centers
Overseas researchers were investing in Hendra virus research, despite it occurring only in Australia, because of fears it may be used in biological warfare. A Queensland Horse Council Hendra virus conference attended by horse owners and bat carers in Cleveland, on Brisbane’s bayside, heard from Dr. Peter Reid the other day.
Australia’s Courier Mail reports that Reid, who was the veterinarian involved in the first known Hendra outbreak that claimed the life of horse trainer Vic Rail in 1994, said the virus and its relative, the Nipah virus, were so lethal that the U.S. considered it a homeland security threat. “Americans see it as a potential bioterrorism weapon that’s why (the department of) Homeland Security are funding research into viruses in bats,” Reid said. “There is no effective treatment or vaccine for Hendra or Nipah and the mortality rate is high.Bats are quite accessible and in the wrong hands it can pose quite a threat.”
Bats are the host of both viruses, with the Nipah virus being the deadlier of the two, having killed hundreds in Malaysia, Bangladesh and India. The virus was originally known to transfer from bats to pigs and from pigs to humans but there have also been bat to human transmissions and human to human transmissions, with a 70 to 75 percent mortality rate.
Hendra, so far, is only known to be transmitted from bats to horses and from horses to humans. There have been no bat-to-human or human-to-human transmissions. It has a 57 percent mortality rate, with four human deaths out of seven people infected — all having occurred in Queensland.
Reid warned against complacency in the southern states as bats continued to spread in NSW and Victoria due to climate change. “Why hasn’t it happened down south? It might be just luck so far,” Reid said. “Wherever flying foxes live there’s the potential for Hendra to occur and people down south should not be lulled into a false sense of security that it only happens north of the Tweed (River).”
Reid said it was his gut feeling that the virus was becoming more contagious, with more outbreaks in the past four years. He warned horse owners that the virus could survive up to four days in the urine of bats and in the saliva or body fluids of infected horses.
QHC president Debbie Dekker said simple biosecurity measures such as wearing safety glasses, gloves, rubber boots, and a mask would prevent infection.
