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New strain of deadly Hendra virus (HeV) discovered
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New strain of deadly Hendra virus (HeV) discovered
The Australian Veterinary Association
09 Mar 2021
The Australian veterinarian-led research project, ?Horses as Sentinels,? has identified a new strain of the deadly Hendra virus as the cause of a previously unexplained horse death in September 2015.
Hendra virus is highly lethal in both horses and humans, with mortality rates approximately 79% and 60% respectively. The originally recognised strain of Hendra virus has resulted in the deaths of four humans and over 100 horses in Australia, since 1994.
The newly recognised variant has not been detected previously by routine biosecurity testing in horses. In addition, the new strain has been detected in grey-headed flying fox samples from Adelaide in 2013 and it shares ~99% sequence identity with the 2015 horse case strain. Partial sequences of the variant have also been detected in flying foxes in other states.
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