Hendra virus

Fact sheet - Health conditions directory.

Hendra virus was discovered following an outbreak of illness in horses in a large racing stable in the suburb of Hendra, Brisbane in 1994. The natural host for Hendra virus is the flying fox. The virus can spread from flying foxes to horses, horses to horses and rarely, from horses to people. Since Hendra virus was identified in 1994, more than 90 horses are known to have been infected. These animals have either died as a direct result of their infection or have been euthanised. Several hundred people have been exposed to Hendra virus infected horses but have not been infected. However, 7 people have been confirmed to have Hendra virus following high levels of exposure to infected horses. Four of these people died, the most recent in 2009.

• Read Communicable Diseases Network Australia guidelines

Notification

Pathology laboratories

• Notification criteria for pathology laboratories (PDF, 55kB)
• Notification procedure

Veterinarians

• Notification procedure

Notification resources

• List of all Pathological, clinical and provisional diagnosis notifiable conditions
• List of Public Health Unit contacts
• Notifiable conditions report form for Queensland doctors/clinicians (PHA S70) or person in charge of a Hospital (PHA S71) (PDF, 77kB) - if faxing notification, follow up by phone.

Enhanced surveillance for public health units

• Hendra virus (confirmed animal case) exposure assessment form - used by public health units to collect and manage more detailed information for enhanced case surveillance.