According to Biosecurity Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer Rick Symons, two horses on the Rockhampton property where a horse died of Hendra virus last week have returned positive tests. Further north in Ingham, authorities are working to confirm whether a dog on the Ingham property where a horse case was identified last week has also been infected.
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Two additional horses on the Rockhampton property where a horse died of Hendra virus last week have tested positive.
The two horses are being re-tested to confirm the results before a decision was made about future action. There are eight horses in total on the property. It is standard procedure to euthanize horses that have been infected with the virus.
“It is likely that the animals in Rockhampton contracted the disease from the originally infected horse which died last week,” Dr Symons said. “Further testing on the dog is needed as three out of the four samples taken from the animal were negative for Hendra virus,” Symons said, noting that this potential case would be only the second natural dog infection to be recorded
According to reports, five horses and a number of other animals remain on the Ingham property. All other animals have returned negative results in the first round of testing. Follow-up testing for all of exposed animals is being conducted at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong.
Biosecurity Queensland officersare continuing to monitor all animals daily.
Queensland Health’s Senior Director Communicable Diseases Dr Christine Selvey said that even if found to be infected, there is minimal risk of infection to humans from the dog.
Additionally, Queensland Health is investigating whether any additional people had contact with these new cases of infected horses.
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