Hendra virus wiki

What are the symptoms? Hendra virus symptoms in horses Hendra virus can cause a range of symptoms in horses. Hendra virus symptoms in people Symptoms typically develop between 5 and 21 days after contact with an infectious horse. Fever, cough, sore throat, headache and tiredness are common initial symptoms. Meningitis or encephalitis inflammation of the brain can develop, causing headache, high fever, and drowsiness, and sometimes convulsions and coma. Hendra virus infection can be fatal.

How is it spread? It is thought that horses may contract Hendra virus infection from eating food recently contaminated by flying fox urine, saliva or birth products.

The spread of Hendra virus between horses is possible whenever horses have close contact with body fluids from an infected horse. All confirmed human cases to date became infected following high level exposures to body fluids of an infected horse, such as doing autopsies on horses without wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, or being extensively sprayed with respiratory secretions.

There is no evidence of human to human, bat to human, bat to dog, or dog to human transmission. Who is at risk? How is it prevented? Preventing horse infection Protect horse feed from contamination by flying fox fluids. Contact your local veterinarian if you notice unusual disease symptoms, abnormal behaviour or unexpected deaths in your horses.

If you cannot contact your veterinarian, contact your animal health authority or the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on hour hotline. Isolate sick horses from other horses. A vaccine for horses is available from veterinarians and is strongly encouraged as the single most effective way to reduce the risk of exposure to Hendra virus. Preventing human infection While the greatest risk is with sick horses, infected horses can shed Hendra virus for a few days before they show any sign of illness so it is always important to use good hygiene practices when around horses.

It has caused death in humans and care should be taken when performing a physical examination or necropsy on a horse considered to have the condition. Other clinical signs include jaundice, facial oedema and oedema of the limbs and prepuce, frothy nasal discharge and some neurological signs such as ataxia, head pressing and muscle fasciculations.

The principal lesions found on necropsy include oedema and congestion of the lungs and marked dilatation of the subpleural lymphatics. The airways are found to be filled with thick froth, which is often blood-tinged. Microscopically, the primary lesions are those of an acute interstitial pneumonia. Severe vascular damage, haemorrhage, thrombosis of capillaries, necrosis of alveolar walls, and alveolar macrophages are evident in the lungs.

The presence of large endothelial syncytial cells is characteristic of infection and are most prominent in the pulmonary capillaries and arterioles. Clinical signs, history and signalment can be suggestive of the disease. Confirmation of the diagnosis is based on laboratory examination on samples of lung, kidney, spleen, liver, lymph nodes and brain, by PCR or virus isolation.

Serologic confirmation of infection is based on testing acute and convalescent sera collected wk apart, either in a neutralization or a validated ELISA. Histopathologial examination can also be performed if a comprehensive range of tissue samples are collected.

Presence of the characteristic vascular lesions is highly suggestive of the infection; specificity of the lesions can be confirmed by immunochemical labeling with Hendra virus reference antiserum. Differentials to be excluded include African horse sickness and other causes of sudden death such as botulism , anthrax and toxins. Minus Related Pages. Signs and Symptoms. Risk of Exposure. Outbreak Distribution Map. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.