Dogs ... and Hendra Virus

[Kit_e_kat9]

Hi,

I know alot of MySwag members have dogs and take them camping.  Just like me  ... but I've seen something today that un-nerved me.  Not outright panic, or even undisclosed fear, more of an startling "oh my gosh" ...  Please be mindful when camping in areas that have had an outbreak of Hendra Virus or an over exposure to bats or there is alot of horse poo (on your garden perhaps?) ... looks like our dogs can carry the antibody now when exposed ... and the researchers are still a bit amazed ...

"Hendra virus infection confirmed in a dog.
by Biosecurity Queensland on Tuesday, 26 July 2011 at 14:33
The Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong has confirmed that a dog has tested positive for Hendra virus.
Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Rick Symons said this was an unprecedented situation.
“This is the first time outside of a laboratory that an animal other than a flying fox or a horse, or a human, has been confirmed with Hendra virus infection,” Dr Symons said.
“The dog is on a property where Hendra virus infection has been confirmed and is currently under quarantine.
“Biosecurity Queensland’s policy is to test cats and dogs on properties where there are infected horses.
“In this case, the dog returned two negative results for the presence of the virus but a different type of test conducted at AAHL has confirmed the presence of antibodies.
“This means that at some point the dog has been exposed to the virus but to our knowledge has shown no signs of illness.”
Dr Symons said this case raised many questions for biosecurity and health officials and researchers.
“We don’t know how the dog contracted the virus or when it happened,” he said.
“Based on our knowledge to date, it is most likely that the dog caught the virus from an infected horse.
“The remaining horses and dogs on this property are still being monitored daily and show no signs of illness.
“Biosecurity Queensland has tested other cats and dogs on the eleven properties currently under quarantine in Queensland and has received no other positive results.
“We recommend that people keep dogs and cats away from sick horses to reduce the risk of such an infection happening.”
Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said Queensland Health would today speak with the property owners to assess if there were any further people who may have had contact with the infected dog.
"We will continue to monitor the property owners and all previously identified contacts for infected horses on this property," Dr Young said, "While we have not seen Hendra virus in a dog before, I believe there is a minimal risk of infection to humans from this animal. For a human to become infected, they would have had to have significant contact with bodily secretions (saliva and/or blood) that contain the Hendra virus."
Dr Young said Queensland Health continued to have a number of staff working on the Hendra response, including public health officials, medical and testing staff.
"Staff are also available to assist anyone with concerns via 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84), and mental health staff are on standby to provide counselling or support," she said.
Up to date information on Hendra virus is available at www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au or phone 13 25 23."

They still haven't answered the question though ... if they shoot the horses ... what are they doing with this dog?  Perhaps in years to come, we will have to immunise for the usual pavo, kennel cough, etc ... AND Hendra? 

I'm not trying to scare people (or dogs) away from coming camping up this way ... just make you aware of what appears to have happened.  I do hear quarantine that is rather nice though ... they won't let you go to work! 

Kit_e

[tjwrexy]

I read this today  :'(.  Reports in the news (NSW) are that the dog will be put down due to the potential risk of transfer to humans.  According to the news report the family have been advised and are trying to come to terms with this fact.  The other dogs and cat on the property are also being tested.  Apparently this particular dog had tested negative x 2 but they did a different test which then came back positive.

[Duchess]

This virus has been around for quite some time now and those of us who are horse owners know of it. It is after all named for the suburb that the horse trainer who was the first known human to die from this virus lived in.

I also heard that the dog was going to be put down, even though it is not showing any symptoms of the illness. Incredible really.

The scary thing about this virus is that it shows symptoms of the flu and doesn't seem like it would be likely to kill but sadly it does.

I have been wondering for a while now just how long it would be before we began to see it become prolific again and it seems with all of the recent rains, good growth of feed for the fruit bats and people forgetting how this can spread, we are now seeing an epidemic.

I do hope that with good management and horse owners being sensible and taking this seriously, we will see this virus contained and perhaps even wiped out. However, with there being nothing done to reduce fruit bat numbers and them being allowed to increase in numbers, I feel that this will only get worse.

[HerGU]

Thanks for the info Kit_e

Much appreciated for the heads up.

[georgel]

Ditto - thanks for the post.

[welchygq]

good info for all of us