Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus Is Omnipresent in Elephants in European Zoos and an Asian Elephant Range Country

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHVs) may cause acute, often lethal, hemorrhagic disease (EEHV-HD) in young elephants. Prevalence of EEHV in different elephant populations is still largely unknown. In order to improve diagnostic tools for the detection of EEHV infections and to obtain insi...

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Published inViruses Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 283
Main Authors Hoornweg, Tabitha E., Schaftenaar, Willem, Maurer, Gilles, van den Doel, Petra B., Molenaar, Fieke M., Chamouard-Galante, Alexandre, Vercammen, Francis, Rutten, Victor P. M. G., de Haan, Cornelis A. M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI 11.02.2021
MDPI AG
Subjects
adults
antibodies
EEHV
elephant
Elephantid betaherpesvirus 1
Elephas maximus
gH/gL
herpesviruses
immunoserology
juveniles
Laos
Life Sciences
risk
zoos
Laos
herpesviruses
immunoserology
gB
elephant
EEHV
gH/gL
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ISSN1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI10.3390/v13020283

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Summary:Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHVs) may cause acute, often lethal, hemorrhagic disease (EEHV-HD) in young elephants. Prevalence of EEHV in different elephant populations is still largely unknown. In order to improve diagnostic tools for the detection of EEHV infections and to obtain insight into its spread among elephants, we developed novel ELISAs based on EEHV1A gB and gH/gL. Performance of the ELISAs was assessed using sera from 41 European zoo elephants and 69 semi-captive elephants from Laos, one of the Asian elephant range countries. Sera from all (sub)adult animals tested (≥5 years of age) showed high reactivity with both gB and gH/gL, indicating that EEHV prevalence has been highly underestimated so far. Reactivity towards the antigens was generally lower for sera of juvenile animals (1 > 5 years). Only one (juvenile) animal, which was sampled directly after succumbing to EEHV-HD, was found to be seronegative for EEHV. The two other EEHV-HD cases tested showed low antibody levels, suggesting that all three cases died upon a primary EEHV infection. In conclusion, our study suggests that essentially all (semi-)captive (sub)adult elephants in European zoos and in Laos carry EEHV, and that young elephants with low antibody levels are at risk of dying from EEHV-HD.
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ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v13020283