Hope against Hendra virus pinned on early release of vaccine

A VACCINE for the deadly Hendra virus could be fast-tracked for next year's danger season in Queensland and northern NSW.

hendra virus

A VACCINE for the deadly Hendra virus could be fast-tracked for next year's danger season in Queensland and northern NSW, the scientist leading the research effort says.

Deborah Middleton, of the CSIRO'S Australian Animal Health Laboratory, said the timetable to have the vaccine available for horses in a year to 15 months might be accelerated with the green light from regulators.

"We will be pursuing this with some vigour in the weeks to come," she told The Weekend Australian yesterday.

Development of the vaccine has been given added urgency by this week's outbreak near Beaudesert, southwest of Brisbane, which killed one thoroughbred horse and exposed eight people to the virus.

The disease is thought to be spread by flying foxes.

Of the four known human victims of Hendra virus, which was identified in 1994, two have been veterinarians.

Beaudesert vet Ewan Maskrey is among those now sweating on the results of tests from the latest scare.

So far, checks on five horses that were stabled with the Hendra-stricken thoroughbred, treated by Mr Maskrey, have come back negative, raising hope that the outbreak has been contained.

Results from 20 horses on a nearby Biddaddaba property, where the infected horse was taken before its death last weekend, are expected in coming days.

Dr Middleton said acceleration of development of the vaccine, for horses, meant it could be available before the onset of the next Hendra season, next autumn.

Most infections have occurred between May and October in Queensland and northern NSW.

Dr Middleton said regulators at the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority would be asked to approve "backfilling" of some data to allow early release of the vaccine.

She said this would not compromise the safety of the drug, which has so far proved successful in early clinical trials of immunising horses against the virus.

Asked to rate the prospects of having the vaccine out by next May, Dr Middleton said: "It's absolutely possible. It's a matter of satisfying the regulators that the benefits outweighed any risk."

Mr Maskrey, who is considered most at risk in the latest outbreak, yesterday urged that the vaccine be made compulsory for horse owners. "Anyone who works with horses won't really feel any safety until we have a vaccine and we are using it," he told reporters.

The 35-year-old vet and new father said he was anxious but trying to get on with life.