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Scientists have achieved a major advance in creating a new vaccine to prevent a fatal virus that affects young elephants.

The vaccine, produced by an global research team, is designed to prevent the serious disease caused by EEHV, which is currently a leading cause of death in young Asian elephants.

In tests that involved adult elephants at Chester Zoo, the vaccine was found to be harmless and, crucially, to activate components of the body's defenses that helps fighting viruses.

Prof Falko Steinbach called this as "a landmark moment in our work to safeguard Asian elephants".

It is anticipated that the result of this first-of-its-kind study will open the door to averting the deaths of young elephants from the harmful disease caused by this virus.

Devastating Impact

EEHV has had a especially devastating impact in zoos. At one facility alone, seven baby elephants have succumbed to it over the last decade. It has also been detected in natural populations and in certain refuges and elephant orphanages.

It causes a bleeding disorder - unchecked hemorrhaging that can be deadly within a day. It leads to death in over eighty percent of cases in young elephants.

Understanding the Threat

Why EEHV can be so dangerous is still unknown. Numerous adult elephants host the virus - apparently with no negative impact on their well-being. But it is believed that young calves are especially vulnerable when they are being weaned, and when the immune-boosting defenses from the maternal nutrition decline.

At this phase, a calf's immune system is in a delicate balance and it can become overpowered. "It may lead to really severe illness," a lead conservation scientist stated.

"It impacts wild elephants, but we lack an precise count of how many deaths in overall it has resulted in. For elephants in human care though, there have been over a hundred deaths."

Immunization Creation

The research team, headed by veterinary scientists, created the new vaccine using a tried and tested "framework". Basically, the basic structure of this vaccine is identical to one routinely used to vaccinate elephants against a virus called cowpox.

The researchers incorporated this vaccine structure with proteins from EEHV - non-infectious bits of the virus that the elephant's defense system might identify and respond to.

In a world-first experiment, the team evaluated the novel vaccine in several fit, adult elephants at the zoo, then analysed blood samples from the innoculated animals.

Prof Steinbach commented that the findings, published in a scientific journal, were "better than we had hoped for".

"They showed, unequivocally that the vaccine was able to activate the generation of immune cells, that are crucial to combating viral infections."

Next Phases

The next step for the researchers is to try the vaccine in more juvenile elephants, which are the creatures most at risk to severe disease.

The present immunization requires multiple injections to be given, so an additional objective is to work out if the equivalent effective amount can be provided in a more straightforward way - possibly with less injections.

Dr Edwards clarified: "Ultimately we want to use this vaccine in the elephants that are at risk, so we want to make sure that we can deliver it to where it's needed."

The project lead continued: "We think this is a major advancement, and not just only for the elephants, but because it additionally demonstrates that you can develop and use vaccines to assist endangered species."