Hendra: An Emerging Viral Disease in Equine

Number of diseases have been emerged in the recent past and many of these have been emerged with a new fate. Hendra is a newly emerged disease of horses and humans. Members of the family Paramyxoviridae infect numerous species but with host specificity. Hendra virus of this family has become more important due to its zoonotic potential. Fruit bats have been considered as an asymptomatic reservoir host for this virus due to high seroprevalence against Hendra virus, earlier called “horse morbillivirus.” Horses become affected after ingesting contaminated material polluted with fruit bat urine. Disease transmission from horses to humans occurs while touching the horse’s fluids. Hendra is a fatal disease and causes death within a few days following the appearance of the clinical picture. Clinical signs involving the respiratory and nervous systems are evident during the disease course. Postmortem lesions are also associated with the lungs. Electron microscopy, Immunofluorescence, PCR and ELISA are laboratory diagnostic tools for Hendra. With the advancement of the world, the load of emerging diseases is increasing. Although Hendra has not been considered as a widespread disease yet but is a transboundary threat, so there is a need to control it. A Viral G glycoprotein-based vaccine has been produced in Australia against the Hendra virus. For the control of this disease, handling of infected horses and vaccination are important strategies.