They also said local horse owners had “absolutely no reason to panic”.
Denis Verwilghen and Gaby van Galen work at Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital in Shepparton and told Country News that, compared with European countries, Australia is in a relatively luxurious position of being “quite on top of things” regarding horse diseases.
“It’s been very impressive for us to come from overseas and see how AgVic deals with these issues,” Associate Professor Verwilghen said.
“In a European country, there is no overall government body to watch this.
“But in Australia, if it comes to an outbreak, horse owners can be assured that they’ll have the best expertise on top of it.
“As vets, we are in a very luxurious position in terms of support and yet sometimes we can take that for granted.”
Agriculture Victoria is investigating the 13 deaths which occurred on five separate properties.
One reported similarity between all the deaths is a rapid onset of illness, followed by death within hours to one day.
Recent reports to AgVic have corrected the date of some of the deaths to having occurred “weeks ago”.
It is not yet known what has caused the deaths.
Associate Professor van Galen said local horse owners had no need for concern at present.
“We don’t know if ‘outbreak’ is the right word yet,” Prof van Galen said.
“This shouldn’t cause a frenzy.”
Although a confirmed case of Hendra virus was reported in NSW on July 18, no Hendra has been detected in Victoria as part of the current investigation.
AgVic does not think there is any connection between the incidents.
Prof van Galen’s expertise is in equine internal medicine while Prof Verwilghen is a veterinarian surgeon, with the couple having extensive equine experience in several European countries.
Prof van Galen is credited with helping discover maple tree seeds as the source of toxin which causes atypical myopathy, another disease that results in acute death.
She is confident, based on current available evidence, that the recent horse deaths near Cranbourne and Colac are not associated with a major outbreak of any disease.
Protection of horses from Hendra relies on vaccination, and Prof Verwilghen and Prof van Galen stressed the importance of owners having their horses vaccinated.
“All owners need to dot their i’s and cross their t’s on horse welfare because ultimately it is the owner’s individual responsibility with basic vaccination.”
The Hendra vaccine was registered in 2015 and according to AgVic has been ‘extremely effective’ after research undertaken by CSIRO.
Because of possible transmission of the virus to humans, vets treat suspected cases in full-body protection suits.
“A vet always needs to have in the back of their mind for any such call-out ‘is it Hendra?’,” Prof Verwilghen said.
“If we get a call-out, and the horse has not been vaccinated, we have a policy for suspected Hendra.
“Samples need to be sent to AgVic and while we are waiting, we can do nothing for the horse because of human risk and then have the risk of delayed treatment for the animal.
“Our first duty of care is to the community. But if we know the horse is vaccinated, then it’s okay.
“A lot of people don’t realise that the vaccine not only protects your horse, but it also means you get access to urgent care for non-Hendra issues.”
Prof Verwilghen and Prof van Galen echoed the advice given by AgVic to not rely on or post unnecessarily on social media.
“AgVic are the ones to talk to instead of friends on Facebook.
“We are so lucky to have them and right now there is absolutely no reason to panic.”
Horse owners can report rapid onset of horse deaths by phoning 1800 675 888.
Updates are available at: agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals/horses
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