Another horse has died from the hendra virus on the New South Wales north coast. The Department of Primary Industries says the property near Ballina is now in quarantine and two other horses are being monitored. The property is the fifth in NSW affected by hendra virus so far this year.
Senior vet with the Department of Primary Industries, Ian Roth, says the horse had to be euthanased. “The horse would have died anyway. It was sick on Sunday, it deteriorated badly on Monday, it was euthanased, we got the result late yesterday back from the lab.”
Sixteen horses infected with hendra have died or been put down since June 20 this year – 10 in Queensland and six in New South Wales – and more than 60 people are being tested.