The HHalter Project
The HHalter Project looking for horse owners to take part in survey that is investigating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of horse owners and those involved with horses over the next two years.
The HHALTER project is being led by the University of Western Sydney (Mel Taylor) and the University of Sydney in conjunction with Biosecurity Queensland and the Biosecurity NSW. The full project name is Horse owners and Hendra virus: A Longitudinal study To Evaluate Risk. The project is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia, the State of New South Wales, the State of Queensland and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation under the National Hendra Virus Research Program. It is the only nationally-funded Hendra virus project that is focussed solely on people - horse owners and those who are involved with horses. The project aims to ensure that ‘horse people’ are central to Hendra virus-related policy development and research. We will be providing regular six-monthly feedback from this study to government agencies and horse industry groups and associations – as well as to those who take part in our surveys. What’s different about this project/this survey? The HHALTER project will be investigating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of horse owners and those involved with horses over the next two years. The last two years have seen some big changes in the number of cases and the ways to reduce the risk of infection, e.g. property management approaches, and now vaccination. We want to look at how knowledge, attitudes, and practices change over the next two years, and how events, such as Hendra virus cases, new scientific information, changes to advice, media coverage, and the introduction of Hendra virus vaccination impact the people who manage and care for horses. To take part in the survey and find out more about the project or contact researchers visit The HHalter Project. Discuss this article with other users on the Horse Forums. Got News? Send your news stories and press releases to the HorseYard News Desk.