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Scientists have achieved a major advance in developing a novel vaccine to prevent a fatal virus that targets juvenile elephants.

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

In trials that included adult elephants at Chester Zoo, the vaccine was found to be safe and, crucially, to activate components of the body's defenses that assists in combating viruses.

Prof Falko Steinbach described this as "a pivotal step in our work to safeguard Asian elephants".

It is hoped that the outcome of this pioneering trial will open the door to preventing the deaths of young elephants from the harmful condition caused by this virus.

Devastating Impact

EEHV has had a particularly destructive effect in captive environments. At Chester Zoo by itself, seven baby elephants have succumbed to it over the last decade. It has additionally been detected in natural populations and in some refuges and care centers.

It causes a bleeding disorder - uncontrolled hemorrhaging that can be deadly within 24 hours. It results in death in over eighty percent of instances in young elephants.

Comprehending the Danger

Why EEHV can be so dangerous is remains unclear. Numerous adult elephants carry the virus - apparently with no negative impact on their well-being. But it is believed that young elephants are especially vulnerable when they are being weaned, and when the protective antibodies from the maternal nutrition decrease.

At this phase, a young elephant's natural defenses is in a delicate balance and it can become overwhelmed. "It may lead to really severe disease," a lead conservation scientist explained.

"It does affect elephants in nature, but we don't have an exact number of how many deaths in overall it has resulted in. For elephants in human care though, there have been more than 100 deaths."

Immunization Creation

The scientific group, led by veterinary scientists, developed the novel vaccine using a proven "scaffold". Basically, the core design of this vaccine is the same to one routinely used to immunise elephants against a virus called a related virus.

The scientists seeded this vaccine structure with components from EEHV - harmless parts of the virus that the animal's defense system might identify and respond to.

In a pioneering experiment, the team evaluated the novel vaccine in three fit, adult elephants at the zoo, then analysed blood samples from the innoculated animals.

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

"The results demonstrated, unequivocally that the vaccine was able to activate the production of immune cells, that are vital to fighting viral infections."

Next Phases

The next step for the researchers is to test the vaccine in more juvenile elephants, which are the animals most vulnerable to severe illness.

The current vaccination involves multiple shots to be given, so an additional objective is to determine if the equivalent protective amount can be given in a simpler way - perhaps with fewer injections.

The conservation scientist clarified: "In the end we aim to employ this vaccine in the elephants that are in danger, so we need to make sure that we can get it to where it's necessary."

Prof Steinbach continued: "We think this is a major advancement, and not just only for the elephants, but because it also demonstrates that you can design and use vaccines to assist threatened animals."