Studies conducted into a colony of grey-headed flying foxes which migrated from the east coast to Adelaide about a decade ago have revealed that they are carrying antibodies for Hendra Virus.
Until now, information about Hendra Virus has been linked to black-headed and spectacled flying foxes which tend to be tropical and sub-tropical species. Until now all spill-over events to horses have occurred in the home range of these species.
So far the South Australian manifestation of Hendra has only been linked retrospectively to one horse death – in 2015.
There is an interesting article about the SA Hendra strain in The Land at https://www.theland.com.au/story/7165342/new-strain-of-deadly-hendra-virus-discovered
This is a timely reminder, given we have a large colony of grey-headed foxes in Commonwealth Park, to practice good hygiene around our horses.
