Hendra virus in horses

If you own horses, or move them from interstate into the Northern Territory (NT), you should know about the risk of Hendra virus.

Hendra virus is spread by flying foxes and bats. It causes respiratory or neurological disease in horses. In some cases it can be passed on to humans. Read more about flying foxes.

There are no known cases in the NT, however, the virus is carried by flying foxes in the Territory.

Most of the known cases in Australia have been in Queensland.

Information for horse owners and the horse industry

For more information read the following:

• Hendra virus: information for horse owners - a publication for horse owners about how to recognise and respond to the virus:
  • Hendra virus: information for horse owners DOCX (73.1 KB)
  • Hendra virus: information for horse owners PDF (160.1 KB)
• Hendra virus: what to do while waiting for results:
  • Hendra virus: what to do while waiting for results DOCX (174.6 KB)
  • Hendra virus: what to do while waiting for results PDF (232.5 KB)
• Hendra virus webpage about the virus, symptoms and prevention.

To access a Hendra virus infection resource kit, go to the Queensland Government's Department of Health website.

The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has extensive resources and information about Hendra virus. To find out more about Hendra virus for industry and horse owners, go to the Queensland Government's Business website.

For information about horses and farm biosecurity, go to Animal Health Australia's Farm Biosecurity website. You can access biosecurity tools including the horse venue biosecurity workbook.

Information for veterinarians

Get the guidelines for NT veterinarians about how to investigate and deal with suspected cases of Hendra virus.

Guidelines for NT veterinarians DOCX (118.3 KB)
Guidelines for NT veterinarians PDF (195.0 KB)

To find out about veterinarian guidelines and assistance for handling Hendra virus in horses, go to the Queensland Government's Business website.