Recipient Organization
TUFTS UNIVERSITY
200 WESTBORO ROAD
N. GRAFTON,MA 01536
Performing Department
Infectious Disease and Global Health
Non Technical Summary
Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a growing threat to the health and viability of the Asian elephant population worldwide. If left untreated, the infection will result in death within one week of the onset of symptoms. The goal of this project is to determine whether latent EEHV infections are present in the captive breeding herd at the elephant breeding center in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. This project is the first of its kind in Nepal. It will assist in understanding the prevalence of EEHV in the captive breeding herd and will lead to recommendations for management of this disease to minimize morbidity and mortality in captive animals in Nepal. It is expected that this work will put in place the capacity for local EEHV diagnosis and will lead to future investigations into disease occurrence and dynamics in captive and wild Asian elephants in Nepal.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a growing threat to the health and viability of the Asian elephant population worldwide. The disease is characterized by sudden onset of lethargy, edema of the head, proboscis and limbs, oral ulcers, and internal hemorrhaging. If left untreated, the infection will result in death within one week of the onset of symptoms. There is currently no knowledge of the prevalence of EEHV in Nepal, a country within the natural range of wild Asian elephants. However, in recent years, several calves have succumbed to unconfirmed but presumed herpes virus. The objective of this project is to determine whether latent EEHV infections are present in the captive breeding herd at the elephant breeding center in Chitwan National Park, Nepal.
Project Methods
Conjunctival swabs and nasal drip samples will be collected twice per week for 4 weeks from 15 elephants. Serial trunk wash and whole blood samples will also be collected when possible from selected animals and compared with samples from the same animal. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis will be performed to determine whether or not EEHV DNA is present in the samples. If EEHV DNA is detected, positive samples will undergo DNA sequencing to determine which strains of EEHV are present in the breeding herd.