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Researchers have made a breakthrough in creating a novel immunization to combat a fatal virus that targets young elephants.

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

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

Prof Falko Steinbach described this as "a landmark moment in our efforts to protect Asian elephants".

It is anticipated that the result of this pioneering study will pave the way to averting the fatalities of juvenile elephants from the harmful condition caused by this virus.

Devastating Impact

EEHV has had a especially destructive impact in captive environments. At Chester Zoo alone, seven baby elephants have died to it over the last decade. It has additionally been found in natural populations and in some sanctuaries and elephant orphanages.

It causes a haemorrhagic disease - unchecked bleeding that can be deadly within 24 hours. It results in death in more than 80% of cases in young elephants.

Comprehending the Danger

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

At this stage, a calf's natural defenses is in a delicate state and it can become overwhelmed. "It can cause really severe illness," a lead conservation scientist explained.

"It impacts wild elephants, but we lack an precise count of how many deaths in overall it has caused. For elephants in captivity however, there have been more than 100 deaths."

Vaccine Development

The research team, led by animal health experts, created the new vaccine using a tried and tested "scaffold". Basically, the basic structure of this vaccine is identical to one routinely used to immunise elephants against a virus called a related virus.

The scientists seeded this vaccine structure with proteins from EEHV - non-infectious parts of the virus that the animal's defense system might recognise and react against.

In a world-first experiment, the team evaluated the novel vaccine in several fit, adult elephants at Chester Zoo, then examined blood samples from the vaccinated animals.

The lead researcher commented that the findings, released in a research publication, were "more successful than anticipated".

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

Future Steps

The next step for the scientists is to test the vaccine in more juvenile elephants, which are the animals most vulnerable to serious disease.

The current immunization requires four injections to be administered, so an additional objective is to work out if the same protective dose can be given in a simpler way - possibly with fewer injections.

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

The project lead added: "We think this is a significant advancement, and not necessarily solely for the elephants, but because it additionally demonstrates that you can develop and use vaccines to help threatened animals."