Biosecurity Queensland and Biosecurity New South Wales have developed a Hendra virussurvey aimed at understanding the practices of horse owners.

Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Rick Symons said the 'Horse Owner Survey on Hendra Virus' is aimed atproviding an insight into the practices, attitudes and opinions of horse owners.

"The survey focuses on understanding husbandry practices, general management of horses, and feeding practices whichmay be related to Hendra virus transmission.

"Information on the location, layout, design and vegetation of properties will help provide an insight intopossible interactions between flying foxes and horses."

Dr Symons said the survey would also focus on horse owners' attitudes, opinions and understanding of Hendravirus.

"We want to know how people access information provided by state governments and what we can do to be moreeffective in communicating to horse owners," he said.

"It is unknown whether horse owners have a good understanding of Hendra virus and we want to gauge if there is aninformation gap based on demographic features."

Dr Symons said information obtained from the survey would be of value to those working in human health planning,and will help improve responses to any similar threats in the future.

"Our aim is to use this information to allow Biosecurity Queensland and other government agencies to tailorresources to reduce the risk of future Hendra virus incidents," he said.

The survey can be completed online at: https://www.research.net/s/Horse_Owner_Survey_on_Hendra_virus

Horse owners can also access the survey via the Biosecurity Queensland website or the Biosecurity New South Wales website.

The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and is open to horse owners in Queensland and New SouthWales.

The survey closes on 28 February 2012.

For more information on Hendra virus contact Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or visit www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au

Comment on this article using the Comment Function below. Discuss this article with other users on the HorseForums.

Got News? Send your news stories and press releases to the HorseYard News Desk.