Horse industry leaders join the debate around mandatory Hendra virus vaccination in new documentary

In the year since the launch of the Hendra virus vaccine, EquivacHeV, there has been growing support within the industry to encourage vaccination and invest in further research, including discussion around the merits of mandatory vaccination. 

These messages have been captured in a new documentary titled, “A safer tomorrow:our stand against Hendra virus” that has been released to mark the first anniversary of the release of the vaccine and to celebrate the organisations and individuals behind the vaccine’s development and manufacture.

The virus, which is spread from flying foxes to horses and then to humans, was first identified in Queensland in 1994, when a trainer and 20 of his horses died or were euthanised because of Hendra virus. Since then, the virus has killed three more people and approximately 70 horses in Queensland and northern New South Wales, with the disease spreading south.

Along with Racing Queensland, leaders from within Equestrian Australia, CSIRO, The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) and the Queensland Horse Council, are joining a groundswell of support within the horse industry to mandate vaccination against Hendra virus.

“I support mandatory vaccination at high risk events. I think that the events community will come to realise that the single best tool for risk mitigation of this disease is vaccination,” said Dr Warwick Vale, chairman of Equestrian Australia and an equine veterinarian.

Associate Professor James Gilkerson; Director, Centre for Equine Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne says Hendra is an endemic disease, and is not going away.

“If you’re worried about a disease that is carried by bats, the best thing you can do is make sure that the population of most concern, in this case horses, is highly vaccinated,” said Associate Prof. Gilkerson.

Mike van Blommestein, General Manager, Australia, Zoetis, said the development of the vaccine had been a collaborative process. Participants included the CSIRO and universities including the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (the US federal health sciences university).

Although some have called for bat colonies to be controlled, the scientific community has discounted this option, because bats control insect populations, such as disease carrying mosquitoes.

In the face of the threat of the disease moving south, researchers are instead concentrating on rapid diagnosis and prevention, and ways to control an outbreak.

“This vaccine and documentary show just how far the fight against Hendra virus has come,” said van Blommestein. “We are celebrating collaboration and innovation, and together, we’re looking forward to the future in the fight against Hendra and research into this deadly disease.”

“A safer tomorrow: our stand against Hendra virus” Hendra documentary can be viewed at www.health4horses.com.au

The documentary will also come with special features consisting of three featurettes that total ten minutes focusing on:

1. Hendra virus research

2. Personal stories shared by those who have had first-hand experience of theHendra virus

3. A discussion around the topic of mandatory vaccination

These featurettes include many of the equine and research industry’s leading experts, as well as the striking stories of horse owners and those who work with horses about their encounters with the Hendra virus.