Hendra Virus: managing the risk in Western Australia




nannygoat

nannygoat

Well-known Member
Well that explains things simply and factually without the scaremongering about "everyone must vaccinate".
 


Murray

Murray

Well-known Member
Staff member
just for the record this information was sent to Stockyard directly from:

The Communications officer
Livestock Biosecurity
Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia
 


R

retroremedy

Well-known Member
Thanks for this Admin, I must admit I have been concerned by the level of seemingly direct to the public covert advertising and promotion of the vaccination by the pharmaceutical company, together with misinformation and as Nannygoat has said - scaremongering...that has occurred in WA since the release of the Hendra vaccination.

It is what gives the pharmaceutical industry a bad reputation. This is why direct advertising of prescription only medication to the general public is illegal in Australia and drug companies are only allowed to promote to registered medical practitioner, veterinary surgeons etc It is the role of the health department, ag department and independent authorities etc to advise and make recommendations to the public as it minimises the risk of a conflict of interest that exists with a drug company promoting and profiting of the sales of a product.
 


K85

K85

New Member
Thanks for the information Admin that was much easier to understand than previous communications I have received! :)
 


JustJam

JustJam

Well-known Member
Thanks Admin **)

Agree with NG! After the last 'information evening' and the scaremongering and 'finger-pointing' that went on afterwards, it is nice to see some down-to-earth information applicable to WA! **)
 




R

retroremedy

Well-known Member
JustJam said:
Thanks Admin **)

Agree with NG! After the last 'information evening' and the scaremongering and 'finger-pointing' that went on afterwards, it is nice to see some down-to-earth information applicable to WA! **)
Click to expand...

LOL, can I ask what happened? *#)
 


Lin

Lin

Well-known Member
While I take the point that promoting the vaccination by drug companies isn't exactly kosher I have to say that the Dept of Ag flyer provides exactly the same info that was provided at the Hendra evening.

Ie, the risk is low, consult your vet if your horse is likely to come into contact with either flying foxes directly (from up north) or horses travelling from Hendra areas, notably Qld and NSW.

Good to see those bagging the info evening, even when they weren't there to hear what was said, are still at it. Winning! ;)
 


Pipsqueak

Pipsqueak

New Member
Good information provided.

It's easy to be flippant about the subject but as someone who has had to wait out a testing period twice after having contact with 2 horses who were possibly hendra infected ( and yes one of those was in WA), I can tell you, you become a lot more serious about vaccination.

I would be a bit hesitant about working with horses (within the incubation period) transported over from QLD, or northern NSW who weren't hendra vaccinated well before transport over here.

I have made an informed decision not to vaccinate my little perth metropolitan dwelling pony at present, but if he was to move agistment to somewhere where horses were often bought in from over east I would definitely reconsider.
 


JustJam

JustJam

Well-known Member
Lin said:
...Good to see those bagging the info evening, even when they weren't there to hear what was said, are still at it. Winning! ;)
Click to expand...

It wasn't so much the info evening per se, it was some of the scaremongering and derisive comments that were made towards those with a more 'moderate' take on the situation that was disappointing ';'
 


S

Sugar's Mum

Well-known Member
Glad I live in an area where there has been no cases. It is a very scary disease and must be very frightening for those who live in affected areas.
 


Murray

Murray

Well-known Member
Staff member
just wanting to make sure that as many people as possible see this.

cheers...admin
 


Trojane

Trojane

Well-known Member
I regretted missing the information evening so it's good to get this agric dept article, thanks admin.
Interesting to see the map of flying fox distributions. The details on presence or absence of host animals here in WA had been pretty fuzzy.

Hendra is a work in progress, so it is worth keeping up with news and to stay vigilant.
 




foxleigh stud

foxleigh stud

Active Member
I guess for those who travel horses over east especially for big competitions it is a decision they have to make. I won't be vaccinating my WA based horses but those travelling east for competitions will most likely be vaccinated.

The cost is quite low but the risk if you don't and Hendra is found at one of the big competitions is devastating.
 




E

EVP

Well-known Member
Braids Dale said:
I hope I can post this here.

Below is a link to a survey carried out by HHALTER- its a research group about the awarness of Hendra, part of someones PHD Thesis. They are after input Australia wide about attitudes to risk of Hendra and how horse owners attitudes are changing over time.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HHALTER-Survey2-New-members
Click to expand...

I have participated in this survey twice. Not sure what the outcome will be, but I'm hoping that eventually there will be strategies that allows people to manage their risk on their own property. If that means being allowed to shoot/remove them under license then I will be mightly pleased.
 


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