Hendra virus

Young, Jeannette R; Selvey, Christine E; Symons, Rick

doi:10.5694/mja11.10967

Topics

Low infectivity but high mortality: strategies to minimise spread until the vaccine arrives are the key

Hendra virus (HeV) infection in humans is an emerging zoonotic disease that has a high mortality rate, but low infectivity. In all cases to date, the infection has been transmitted to humans from bats of the genus Pteropus (flying foxes) via an intermediate equine host.

1 Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD.
2 Biosecurity Queensland, Brisbane, QLD.

Correspondence: jeannette_young@health.qld.gov.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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