Hendra Virus Claims another Horse in NSW

The hendra virus has claimed another horse's life.

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries says a second horse has been euthanased at a property at Wollongbar, near Lismore in the state's north.

The animal had been kept in the same paddock as another horse which succumbed to the disease late last month.

The property is still under quarantine.

A vet with the department, Ian Roth, says the infection was not a great surprise.

"It's not really unexpected because those two horses were companions," Mr Roth said.

"They got around together and the second horse got the disease about 11 days after the first horse was very ill, so that's just in keeping with the incubation period."

It is the third NSW horse to die after catching hendra in the past month.

The recent cases have covered a huge area, between Macksville on the NSW mid-north coast and Cairns in far north Queensland.

A cross-border taskforce, including the chief vets of New South Wales and Queensland, scientists, health officers and the CSIRO, has been formed to respond to the spike in cases of the fruit bat-borne disease.

Mr Roth says authorities in NSW are vigilant.

"We've still only got two properties in NSW, at Wollongbar and near Macksville, and we're certainly investigating any suspect properties," he said.

"We're certainly pushing that message of keeping horses away from trees where flying foxes may be roosting or feeding, and if people have sick horses to keep away from them."