TY - JOUR AU - Playford, Elliott G. AU - McCall, Brad AU - Smith, Greg AU - Slinko, Vicki AU - Allen, George AU - Smith, Ina AU - Moore, Frederick AU - Taylor, Carmel AU - Kung, Yu-Hsin AU - Field, Hume T1 - Human Hendra Virus Encephalitis Associated with Equine Outbreak, Australia, 2008 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2010 VL - 16 IS - 2 SP - 219 SN - 1080-6059 AB - A recent Hendra virus outbreak at a veterinary clinic in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, involved 5 equine and 2 human infections. In contrast to previous outbreaks, infected horses had predominantly encephalitic, rather than respiratory, signs. After an incubation period of 9–16 days, influenza-like illnesses developed in the 2 persons before progressing to encephalitis; 1 died. Both patients were given ribavirin. Basal serum and cerebrospinal fluid levels were 10–13 mg/L after intravenous administration and 6 mg/L after oral administration (isolate 90% inhibitory concentration 64 mg/L). Both patients were exposed to infected horses, 1 during the late incubation period in a horse. The attack rate for veterinary clinic staff exposed to infected horses was 10%. An isolate from this outbreak showed genetic heterogeneity with isolates from a concurrent, but geographically remote, outbreak and from previous outbreaks. Emergence of Hendra virus is a serious medical, veterinary, and public health challenge. KW - Hendra virus KW - Henipavirus KW - Paramyxoviridae KW - ribavirin KW - Australia KW - encephalitis KW - equines KW - viruses KW - research DO - 10.3201/eid1602.090552 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/2/09-0552_article ER - End of Reference