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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 08 December, 2023

  • 1 Min Read

Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV)

  • A new study assessed the circulation of the elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus Subtypes (EEHV) responsible for the recent rise in the disease, as well as its pathogenesis.
  • Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a double-stranded DNA herpesvirus.
  • It can cause a fatal hemorrhagic disease in young Asian elephants.

The disease has a mortality rate of up to 85%.

Source:

GS-III :
  • 04 October, 2019

  • 3 Min Read

Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes-virus (EEHV)

GS-III: Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes-virus (EEHV)

News

A rare disease has killed five elephants in Odisha. The four deaths in Nandan Kanan Zoo are the first reported cases of EEHV-related deaths in an Indian zoo while the death in the forest too is the first known such case in the wild in India.

EEHV

  • EEHV is a type of herpesvirus that can cause a highly fatal haemorrhagic disease in young Asian elephants.
  • The disease is caused by a virus called EEHV, or elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus.
  • EEHV is lethal for young elephants between the ages of one and 12.

Symptoms:

  • Most elephants carry just as most humans carry a cold virus.
  • When EEHV is triggered, the elephant dies of massive internal bleeding and symptoms which are hardly visible.
  • Some elephants show symptoms such as reduced appetite, nasal discharge and swollen glands, researchers say.
  • The disease is usually fatal, with a short course of 28-35 hours.

No cure yet:

  • There is no true cure for herpes-viruses in animals or in humans because herpes viruses go latent.
  • The disease has a short course which means that we have to take a very quick call on a suspected EEHV case and kick off treatment protocols.
  • This treatment is a combination of anti-viral therapy, aggressive fluid therapy (to counter haemorrhaging), immuno-stimulant drugs (selenium and Vitamins C, E), anti-pyretics and analgesics (to bring down fever).

Why it is a concern?

  • The death of the Chandaka forest elephant has worried officials in Odisha.
  • If elephants in the wild start falling prey to the virus, then treatment will be very difficult.
  • If a young elephant dies before reproducing, it affects the population of the species as a whole in the concerned geography.

Source: Indian Express


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