A rare neurological form of a common horse virus that can cause pregnant mares to abort foals has been detected in Queensland.<\/p>\n
Biosecurity Queensland confirmed equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) was found in Townsville and Toowoomba.<\/p>\n
Exact locations have not been disclosed, but authorities said one horse in the Townsville area showed neurological symptoms, while “a small number” of horses around Toowoomba had aborted foals.<\/p>\n
There is no risk to human health.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gemma Chuck says neurological signs of the virus are rarely seen in Australia. (Supplied: AVA)<\/p>\n
Australian Veterinary Association president Gemma Chuck said EHV-1 was highly contagious and endemic across Australia, but the northern case was significant.<\/p>\n
“We’re really concerned at this point because we’re seeing this rare neurological form,” Dr Chuck said.<\/p>\n
“The neurological form is seen much more rarely [and] overseas, there have been deaths in horses.”<\/p>\n
The virus usually causes mild respiratory illness or abortion in pregnant mares, but the neurological symptoms can include incoordination, hind-leg weakness, and difficulty standing, urinating or defecating.<\/p>\n
Dr Chuck said symptoms could resemble signs of Hendra virus, which could be fatal to horses and humans.<\/p>\n
“Just by looking at a horse with neurological signs, you’re not going to know which one it is,” she said.<\/p>\n
“This really shows the critical role that veterinarians have in protecting public health.”<\/p>\n
A Queensland Department of Primary Industries spokesperson said tracing and risk assessments were complete and “the risk of this incident becoming a widespread outbreak remains low.”<\/p>\n
Unlike Hendra virus, EHV-1 poses no risk to humans and spreads only between horses and donkeys.<\/p>\n
It is transmitted through direct contact, inhalation of respiratory droplets, or contaminated equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Equine herpesvirus type 1 is endemic in Australia and is highly contagious. (ABC Rural: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n
Horse owners are being urged to review their biosecurity protocols, limit horse movements, isolate sick animals, disinfect gear, and speak with veterinarians about vaccination.<\/p>\n
With the winter racing season, campdrafting, and major rodeos underway, Dr Chuck warned against moving unwell horses.<\/p>\n
“[In] overseas scenarios \u2026 there’s been a lot of event cancellation when these things have got out of control,” she said.<\/p>\n
“If your horse isn’t well, then absolutely 100 per cent, it needs to stay at home.”<\/p>\n
Horse owners are required by law to report suspected cases to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or the Emergency Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rare neurological form of a common horse virus that can cause pregnant mares to abort foals has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,24518,50999,50998,51000,51001,137,50996,50997],"class_list":["post-63778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-veterinary-association","tag-biosecurity-queensland","tag-equine-herpes","tag-equine-herpesvirus-type-1","tag-evh-1","tag-health","tag-herpes","tag-horse-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}