Scientists at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) have reached the final stages of developing a vaccine designed to protect horses against the deadly zoonotic Hendra virus (HeV). The announcement came last week during the 2011 Australian Veterinary Conference.

"The development of the equine vaccine for Hendra virus will mean that working with horses will be much safer," said Chris Reardon, BVSc(Hons), BSc(Hons), MACVSc, CMAVA, president of Equine Veterinarians Australia. "At present, especially in Queensland and northern New South Wales, (when) performing moderate- to high-risk procedures on horses such as dentals, respiratory endoscopic examinations, and necropsies, the transmission of HeV is a possibly."

Having a vaccine, she added, means these procedures can be carried out in a safer manner. Hendra virus is responsible for four human deaths–including a veterinarian who contracted the virus from an equine patient–since it was identified in the 1990s.

"The development of the vaccine goes back more than 10 years to shortly after CSIRO scientists first isolated the virus following the first outbreak of the disease in Hendra, Queensland (in 1994-95)," Reardon explained. "It has been slow, painstaking, and high-risk work, and the credit is due to many people who’ve worked on this since 1994