Kunjin SA neurological equine virus

ABC News 7:30 Report
New threat to horses hits SA

Friday, July 8, 2011 8:00 AEST

Deadly kunjin virus kills horses
By Annabelle Homer
Friday, 08/07/2011


South Australian government officials are racing to secure a vaccine for the deadly Kunjin virus that's killed 7 horses.

Borne from mosquito's, Kunjin virus was first detected in South Australia in February.

Adelaide Plains vet Liz Herbert says she's never seen the virus before in South Australia.

She says though it's not as serious as the Hendra virus, which is passed from horses to humans, horses have had to be euthanised:
"It presents differently to every horse, most of the horses that I've seen their face gets all these fasciculations and they're lifting their lips and a lot of them don't want to put their head down."


  

"If they do put their head down it makes them wobbly, some have muscle tremors and I've had the odd horse go down."
There has also been outbreaks in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.

However it's endemic in the Northern Territory with 90 per cent of horses been exposed to the virus over the past 30 years.
Darwin veterinary virologist Lorna Melville says there has only been one mild case that's made a horse sick.

However, scientists have isolated a small crucial mutation in the virus which is causing the horses to react differently in the southern states.

The vets say the mutated version is very similar to West Nile virus for which there is an effective vaccine in the United States.
There is hope the vaccine will also work against Kunjin.