Hendra Virus Essay

There are a wide range of clinical signs in horses which are taken into consideration where there seems to be an acute onsets of the signs with increased progression to deaths that are associated with neurological and/or respiratory signs. There has been a surge of the mortality rates of horses which is now approximately 75%. This virus has posed a serious challenge to owners of horses, government agencies, equine veterinarians and industries, and to the general public since the first case was identified in Australia in the year 1994. This paper delves into the possible threat that the Hendra virus poses to the Queensland in 2018. The virus was discovered after an outbreak of illness in horses in the racing stable in the Suburb of Hendra, Brisbane in 1994.

HeV (Hendra virus) is a lethal member of the Henipavirus genus of paramyxoviruses which have been known to cause high mortality both in human and horse. The virus has a unique genetic constitution with high virulence and has a wide range of hosts. This sets the virus apart from other paramyxoviruses (Wong et al. The virus has a fusion protein with a crystal structure. The enveloped glycoprotein in their structure facilitates their viral entry into the hosts. Mutation is, therefore, likely to occur at a faster rate and this may be ascribed to its wide range of hosts. This type of the evolved virus is surrounded by theories. While some people contend that the virus undergoes a very high rate of mutation, others argue against this but instead believes that there are different forms of the virus so that the different forms target different animals.

Understanding the immunology effectiveness, there is need to understand the signs and the symptoms that people exhibit when they are infected with the Hendra virus. First, they develop an influenza-like illness with fever, sore throat, cough, tiredness, and headache. According to a study that was conducted to establish the variation in Hendra virus prevalence, but a subject to the environment (Middleton et al. It was found that the prevalence of the variations in the virus was better explained not by variation across sites. It is worth noting that there is not dose for human beings who get infected. However, there exists a vaccine that is used in horsed and whose efficacy is high. This vaccine that is administered to horses is a barrier against horse infecting humans as a human infection is linked to horses and the way they are handled.

However, the vaccine was reportedly said to have side effects on the health of the horse that owners of horses filed cases for this. For example, horse owners from New South Wales and Queensland filed a suit claiming that the Zoetis Australia PTY LMT failed to provide warnings that the vaccine had some potential side effects in horses. From 2012, more than 1500 horses experienced adverse reactions from the side effects of the vaccine (Peel et al. However, this was a small number considering that from 2012, more than half a million doses of the vaccine has been administered to horses. According to the information gathered on this topic, it is crystal clear that the virus is a subject of great concern to the populations in Queensland.

Much of the states’ fund have been allocated for research that is aimed at making effective vaccines for horses, a vaccine that will be highly accepted by the horse owners. This is because, the existing vaccine have been rejected by many horse owners who claims that it has negative sides effects and that it has killed about 1500 horses (Peel et al. 124: ed. It the attempts of making an effective vaccines for the horses, the state has diverted much of its funds from development activities to research. Also, there are attempts of developing a human vaccine and other works of researchers that are for example related to understanding the genetic composition and the mutation power of the virus in attempts of developing effective curative or preventive measures.

Such practices should include isolating the suspected horse or horse from the rest so as to avoid transmission to the unaffected horse. In conclusion, there is need that horse owners be sensitized on the importance of embracing the vaccine as this can contribute significantly to the reduction in the rate of human transmission and hence death. This should, however, be coupled with efforts of researching for effective vaccines that could be used directly on people instead of using the horse vaccine indirectly as an instrument of controlling transmission to people. For this reasons, Queensland should invest in research and development. This way the increasing trend of Hendra infection can be made to take a sharp turn which will in return reduce significantly the fear that is associated with the virus.

Also, an individual experiences an inflammation of the brain which may be accompanied by drowsiness and sometimes coma. Middleton, Deborah, et al. "Hendra virus vaccine, a one health approach to protecting horse, human, and environmental health. " Emerging infectious diseases 20. This article was written by Middleton, Deborah, and others. Peel, Alison J. , et al. "The equine Hendra virus vaccine remains a highly effective preventative measure against infection in horses and humans:‘ The imperative to develop a human vaccine for the Hendra virus in Australia’. " Infection ecology & epidemiology 6. This article on infection, ecology, and epidemiology is dated 2016 and delves into the matter of the horse vaccine. Wong, Joyce JW, et al. "Structure and stabilization of the Hendra virus F glycoprotein in its prefusion form.