Human Deaths From the Hendra Virus in Australia

HeV Disease Outbreaks Have Been Deadly to People as Well as Horses

Aug 24, 2009 Jo Jackson

There have been several outbreaks of the Hendra virus in Australian horses. People who handle, or perform autopsies on, infected horses can contract the fatal disease.

The Hendra virus was first isolated in 1994 from a disease outbreak at a racing stable in the Brisbane suburb of Hendra. 13 horses and 2 people were affected by the virus, and the death of one of those people was the first recorded human death attributable to the Hendra virus.

Since then there have been a dozen identified incidents of Hendra virus infection in horses detected, on or east of the Great Dividing Range from Cairns to northern New South Wales. Seven cases of human Hendra virus infection have been recorded, and four of the seven people have died. Human infections occur through handling infected horses (ill horses and during autopsies), highlighting the need for great care with personal protective measures when handling suspect horses.

Horse Trainer Vic Rail was the first Hendra Virus Fatality in September 1994

Vic Rail was the trainer of the great racehorse Vo Rogue and had a very hands-on approach to the management of his racing stables at Hendra. On 7 September 1994 a newly arrived mare named Drama Series became ill. She died 2 days later from very severe damage to the lungs with the accumulation of massive amounts of fluid. The trainer and a stable-hand both cared for her during those two days.

Five and six days after Drama Series died the stable-hand and then Vic Rail, developed influenza-like illnesses. The stable-hand recovered but the trainer developed pneumonitis, respiratory failure, renal failure and arterial thrombosis, and died from a cardiac arrest seven days after admission to hospital. Another 13 horses died and others were euthanized as they had been exposed to infection.

Both Vic and the stablehand had been in contact with the sick mare's frothy nasal and oral mucous secretions and the incident was treated as an emergency disease outbreak by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland (DPI&F). Originally called equine morbillivirus the disease was renamed Hendra virus (HeV) when it was found to be a member of a new genus (Henipavirus) in the family Paramyxoviridae.

Mackay Farmer Mark Preston Dies From Hendra Virus in October 1995

In August 1994 Mark Preston assisted his wife, a veterinarian, with the autopsies of two horses in Mackay (about 800km from Hendra). A couple of weeks later he was hospitalised with aseptic meningitis from which he eventually recovered. However he became acutely ill about a year later and died at age 35 from severe encephalitis which was found to have been caused by the Hendra virus.

Following his death the two horses were shown (retrospectively) to have also been infected with HeV, via tests using tissues preserved in formaldehyde. It was only after this second death that investigations identified fruit bats, also known as flying foxes, as the natural carriers of the Hendra virus and transmission of the virus from horses to humans as most likely to occur through mucous secretions from sick animals.

Hendra Virus Disease Outbreaks 1996 to 2007 – One Non Fatal Human Infection

Between 1996 and 2007 there were 7 recorded Hendra virus incidents, each involving a single horse.

January 1999 at Trinity Beach, Queensland
October 2004 at Gordonvale, Queensland
December 2004 at Townsville, Queensland
June 2006 at Peachester, Queensland
October 2006 at Murwillumbah, New South Wales
June 2006 at Peachester, Queensland
July 2007 at Clifton Beach, Queensland

At Gordonvale in October 2004 a human was also infected after assisting with the autopsy of the dead horse. Although ill for some time the individual did not die.

Veterinarian Ben Cunneen is the Third Hendra Virus Death

In July 2008 while treating a sick horse at a veterinary clinic in Redlands Brisbane, both 34 year-old veterinarian Ben Cunneen and a clinic nurse Natalie Boehm became infected. They both had flu-type symptoms and were given a five-day intravenous drug course of Ribavirin when found to have HeV before going into intensive care.

Ben Cunneen survived in intensive care for about five weeks before dying on August 20th 2008. Natalie was discharged the day before his death. Eight horses at the clinic were also infected and either died or were euthanized. During the same month of July 2008 another 4 horses were also infected and died or were at destroyed at Prosperpine in Queensland.

Rockhampton Vet Alister Rodgers is the Fourth Hendra Virus Death

Rockhampton veterinarian Alister Rodgers became the seventh person ever to contract the virus after becoming ill about 20 days after being exposed to a horse that died of the virus on July 28. It was previously thought that the incubation period for the disease was five to 16 days. At least 4 horses at the stud east of Rockhampton, Queensland were also infected.

Dr Rodgers was placed into a medically induced coma after contracting the potentially fatal Hendra virus. Prior to becoming acutely ill he was one of 4 people exposed to the infected horses who had been given an experimental anti-viral treatment, but it was unable to prevent the illness. After fighting for his life for 12 days the 55 year-old passed away on 1 September 2009.

The onset of the Hendra virus can be extremely rapid and there may be only 24 hours between the first sign of symptoms and the descent into serious illness. It affects the respiratory system with symptoms that resemble influenza and pneumonia.The human virus can also affect the brain with encephalitis (swelling of the brain) type symptoms including headaches, high fever and drowsiness which can lead to convulsions or coma. There is no vaccine against the virus.

The copyright of the article Human Deaths From the Hendra Virus in Australia in General Medicine is owned by Jo Jackson. Permission to republish Human Deaths From the Hendra Virus in Australia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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