User talk:Philbrumby

Hello Philbrumby, welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Our intro page contains a lot of helpful material for new users - please check it out! If you need help, visit Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on this page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. SatuSuro 12:07, 18 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Description

Hendra virus infection is a disease caused by the Hendra virus. The virus was first called equine morbillivirus when it was isolated in 1994 from specimens obtained during an outbreak of respiratory and nervous system disease in horses and humans in Hendra in Brisbane.

There have been only six confirmed human infections, all in Queensland, and three of these died. All six cases had been in close contact with sick or dead horses.

Symptoms

Symptoms in humans have included:

   * an influenza-like illness, which can progress to pneumonia; or
   * encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) type symptoms i.e. headache, high fever, and drowsiness, which can progress to convulsions or coma.

Horses develop an acute respiratory or neurological syndrome quickly leading to death in most cases.

Transmission

While Hendra virus does not appear to be very contagious, humans and horses are susceptible to the disease. All human infections have occurred following direct exposure to tissues and secretions from infected or dead horses. There is no evidence of human to human transmission.

The incubation period in humans has been estimated at 5-14 days.

The natural host for Hendra virus in Australia is the flying fox. It is not clear how horses become infected, but this may occur by them eating food contaminated by bat urine or birthing products.

Treatment

A person suspected to be infected with Hendra virus may need to be admitted to hospital for supportive care such as intravenous therapy and mechanical ventilation. It is not known whether antiviral treatments are effective against Hendra virus infection.

Prevention

There is no vaccine against Hendra virus. The most important means of preventing Hendra virus infection is to avoid animals that are known to be infected. When contact with potentially infected animals is necessary, take precautions that include using appropriate personal protective equipment and following recommended hygiene and environmental cleaning measures.

Horse feed and water troughs should not be placed under trees where bats may feed or roost.

Any suspected cases in horses or humans should be reported, investigated and treated as soon as possible.

Help and Assistance

For further information please contact your local doctor, community health centre or nearest Population Health Unit.

The article Leeanne (Lee) Brient has been proposed for deletion because under Wikipedia policy, all biographies of living persons created after March 18, 2010, must have at least one source that directly supports material in the article.

If you created the article, please don't take offense. Instead, consider improving the article. For help on inserting references, see Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners or ask at Wikipedia:Help desk. Once you have provided at least one reliable source, you may remove the {{prod blp}} tag. Please do not remove the tag unless the article is sourced. If you cannot provide such a source within ten days, the article may be deleted, but you can request that it be undeleted when you are ready to add one. ttonyb (talk) 03:58, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]