Australia: Australian researchers attached GPS trackers to flying foxes in south-east Queensland to learn more about hendra virus. Chief vet Dr Rick Symons said authorities are tracing movements on the property and analysing data about all confirmed cases of hendra virus in Queensland this year.
“We know that it comes from a bat to a horse,” he said. “But, there are other factors that are occurring both in the bat, potentially in the horse, and maybe in the pasture and the weather. According to the North Burnett Regional Council, the GPS tracking devices would help decide how to move the bats at Gayndah, south-west of Bundaberg, in southern Queensland.
About 260,000 bats populate the riverbank that runs through Gayndah and authorities will move the animals once the colony’s young are old enough to fly. North Burnett Council CEO Mark Pitt said he hopes Gayndah is first in line to use the technology.
Source: ABC
