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Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in creating a new vaccine to combat a deadly virus that targets juvenile elephants.

The vaccine, developed by an global scientific group, aims to prevent the serious illness caused by EEHV, which is presently a primary cause of death in young Asian elephants.

In tests that involved adult elephants at Chester Zoo, the vaccine was found to be harmless and, importantly, to stimulate part of the immune system that helps combating viruses.

Prof Falko Steinbach called this as "a pivotal step in our efforts to protect Asian elephants".

It is hoped that the outcome of this first-of-its-kind study will pave the way to preventing the fatalities of young elephants from the harmful condition caused by this virus.

Severe Consequences

EEHV has had a especially devastating impact in zoos. At one facility by itself, multiple young elephants have died to it over the last decade. It has also been found in wild elephant herds and in some sanctuaries and care centers.

It causes a haemorrhagic disease - unchecked bleeding that can be deadly within a day. It results in death in over eighty percent of instances in juvenile elephants.

Understanding the Threat

Why EEHV can be so lethal is remains unknown. Numerous adult elephants host the virus - seemingly with no adverse effects on their health. But it is thought that juvenile calves are especially vulnerable when they are being weaned, and when the protective antibodies from the mother's milk decrease.

At this stage, a young elephant's natural defenses is in a precarious state and it can become overwhelmed. "It can cause extremely serious disease," a lead conservation scientist stated.

"It does affect wild elephants, but we don't have an exact number of how many deaths in total it has caused. For elephants in captivity though, there have been more than 100 deaths."

Immunization Creation

The research team, headed by animal health experts, developed the new vaccine using a proven "scaffold". Essentially, the basic structure of this vaccine is the same to one routinely used to vaccinate elephants against a virus called cowpox.

The researchers incorporated this vaccine structure with components from EEHV - non-infectious parts of the virus that the elephant's immune system might identify and react against.

In a pioneering experiment, the team tested the novel vaccine in several healthy, adult elephants at the zoo, then examined blood samples from the innoculated animals.

The lead researcher commented that the results, released in a scientific journal, were "more successful than anticipated".

"They showed, clearly that the vaccine was able to activate the production of T cells, that are crucial to fighting virus attacks."

Next Phases

The subsequent phase for the researchers is to test the vaccine in younger elephants, which are the creatures most vulnerable to serious disease.

The present immunization involves multiple shots to be given, so an additional objective is to work out if the same effective amount can be given in a simpler way - possibly with less jabs.

The conservation scientist explained: "Ultimately we want to employ this vaccine in the elephants that are at risk, so we need to make sure that we can deliver it to where it's necessary."

Prof Steinbach added: "We think this is a major step forward, and not just solely for the elephants, but because it additionally shows that you can develop and use vaccines to help threatened animals."