Bat researchers from the Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases will survey the property Blazing Saddles Adventures, west of Cairns, in the state's far north where a horse died from hendra virus earlier this week.
There has been four outbreaks of the disease in Queensland in the less than three weeks.
Six people who had recent contact with the horse at the property near Cairns are awaiting test results.
Queensland Health (QH) says the six people who had contact with the horse at the property near Cairns are all at very low risk of contracting the disease.
The department is speaking to several other people who may have been exposed.
About 36 remaining horses on the property have also been tested.
Fast tracking the vaccination is the priority, but until that's available the population of flying foxes needs to be curtailed. We can't ignore the need for culling any longer.
This is a devastating disease that is fatal to humans as well as horses and the state government needs to urgently assess ways to protect both, by limiting flying fox numbers.
I certainly acknowledge that flying foxes are a vital part of our eco system and I definitely do not think they should be 'wiped out', but they are proving to be a danger to society and clearly need to be better managed.
Governments are well aware of the cause of the Hendra virus and proactive action needs to be taken to address that issue until we have the vaccine on the market.
I believe one of the reasons we are seeing more Hendra cases is because flying foxes are in plague proportions. Culling would be to simply bring numbers back to more manageable levels and help minimise the spread of Hendra.
It is no different to culling kangaroos to protect farming land, or netting sharks to protect swimmers. When human lives are at stake these types of measures need to be taken.
Latest research suggests that the Hendra virus was initially present in 10 per cent of the bat population but has now increased to 30 per cent of the bat population.
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