The imperative to develop a human vaccine for the Hendra virus in Australia

Zahoor, Bilal A.; Mudie, Lucy I.

HeV poses a significant challenge to public health, affecting not only equines but also canines as well; humans are only the recent end-host that has been identified. The only preventative strategy in place, outlined by Biosecurity Australia, is the production of an equine vaccine whose efficacy remains to be tested given the low prevalence of HeV. A low prevalence of HeV may ordinarily prohibit the development of a human vaccine; however, this ought to be weighed against the growing evidence that an intermediary host beyond equines may indeed be a reality if not a distinct possibility (3, 5, 9) . Human-to-human transmission is a bleak reality which may occur in our lifetimes, and thus the development of a human vaccine would be apt. The development of this vaccine can be expedient and successful, as was with the development of the HeV vaccine, with the help of international partners such as the National Institutes of Health in the United Sates who in previous vaccine development campaigns have collaborated willfully and eagerly.