News and Stories

Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV) is a virus that is thought to be found in all elephant herds both in the wild and in human care. EEHV can cause a fatal hemorrhagic disease (EEHV-HD) in young elephants without adequate antibody protection. EEHV-HD has a very high mortality rate and is the most common cause of death in young elephants in human care.

As part of our commitment to elephant care and conservation, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has taken every precaution to protect our young elephants from EEHV-HD. These precautions include:

• Development of an EEHV PCR laboratory to allow same-day detection of EEHV and ensure rapid response to any concerns.
• Collaboration with outside experts from zoos, laboratories, and universities worldwide.
• Elephant keeper staff training elephants to allow routine blood collection and trunk wash screening for EEHV.
• Elephant keeper staff training elephants to accept treatments in case they are necessary.
• Veterinary staff collecting and analyzing blood samples to look for changes in bloodwork.
• Pre-emptive plasma transfusions during introductions of the new elephants to the previous herd.
• Vaccination for EEHV1A using an mRNA vaccine developed by Dr. Paul Ling at the Baylor College of Medicine.

All these steps were taken to provide the best possible outcome in the inevitable event that our young elephants become infected with EEHV1A.

Well, that time has come. Sanjay, our 7-year-old Asian elephant calf tested positive for EEHV1A on a routine screening blood test February 16. Since then, our elephant and veterinary teams have been monitoring him daily and assessing his viral levels. Thankfully, his blood parameters have remained normal and his EEHV levels have remained low for the last 3 weeks.

Since these young elephants like to do everything in pairs, Kabir, our 8-year-old elephant calf, also tested positive last week. He will be monitored daily for any changes in examination, bloodwork, or viral levels and treatment will begin immediately if indicated.

Thanks to the hard work of the elephant keeper team, Sanjay and Kabir have voluntarily participated in their own healthcare during this process. It is a great testament to the relationships built between the elephants and keepers.

Because of the proactive measures that have been taken, we are optimistic that the boys’ EEHV levels and symptoms will be manageable.  The good news is that they are building antibodies that will eventually give them more resistance to EEHV.  The adults in the herd already have antibodies, which is why we’re not concerned about them being around Sanjay and Kabir.

Updates on the young elephants’ health with be shared on the Zoo’s social media. For more information on EEHV, please see EEHVinfo.org.