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. 2020 Sep 2:10:100162.
doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100162. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Hendra in the Hunter Valley

K M Williamson  1   2 , S Wheeler  1   2 , J Kerr  3 , J Bennett  3 , P Freeman  4 , J Kohlhagen  1 , A J Peel  5 , P Eby  5   6 , T Merritt  1 , T Housen  2 , C Dalton  1 , D N Durrheim  1 ; BatOneHealth field team
Collaborators, Affiliations

Hendra in the Hunter Valley

K M Williamson et al. One Health. .

Abstract

In June 2019 the first equine case of Hendra virus in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia was detected. An urgent human and animal health response took place, involving biosecurity measures, contact tracing, promotion of equine vaccinations and investigation of flying fox activity in the area. No human or additional animal cases occurred. Equine vaccination uptake increased by over 30-fold in the surrounding region in the three months following the case. Black flying fox and grey-headed flying fox species were detected in the Valley. The incident prompted review of Hendra virus resources at local and national levels. This event near the "horse capital of Australia", is the southernmost known equine Hendra case. Management of the event was facilitated by interagency collaboration involving human and animal health experts. Ongoing One Health partnerships are essential for successful responses to future zoonotic events.

Keywords: Equine; Hendra virus; Henipaviruses; Zoonosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

De-identified data on vaccination rates were supplied by Zoetis Inc. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.

Figures

Fig. A1
Fig. A1
Location of known events of Hendra virus spillover to horses in Australia from August 1994 to June 2019. (Black dots represent locations where confirmed Hendra spillover events have occurred; derived from Queensland Government: ‘Summary of Hendra virus incidents in horses.’ [1] Note: Some towns/cities have had more than one spillover event; please see reference for details.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Hendra Virus Disease – Outbreak Distribution Map. https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/hendra/outbreaks/distribution-map.html Updated 17 March 2014 [cited 2020 Apr 27] Accessible at.
    1. Field H. The University of Queensland; Brisbane, Australia: 2004. The Ecology of Hendra Virus and Australian Bat Lyssavirus. (PhD Thesis)

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