Staff at Oregon Zoo are in mourning after the sudden and unexpected loss of Lily, a young elephant, one day before her sixth birthday.
Despite exhaustive efforts by veterinarians and care staff to save her, Lily succumbed late on Friday night night to a sudden onset of endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV).
The disease is both one which rapidly progresses and is often a fatal disease to which calves are particularly susceptible.
The Oregon Zoo in Portland was closed Friday following the unexpected death Thursday night of Lily, a six-year-old Asian elephant
Lilt was considered 'the darling of the zoo,' according to the park's director
She had been diagnosed Wednesday with an active strain of endotheliotropic herpesvirus, but didn't immediately show any symptoms
'I can't imagine a more devastating loss for this zoo family and our community,' said Dr. Don Moore, zoo director.
'Lily was the darling of the zoo. She was loved by everyone from her elephant family to the people who cared for her every day to her thousands of fans.
Our staff did everything they could and fought to save her until the very end. Everyone is in mourning here. It is just heartbreaking.'
EEHV is known to be present in almost all Asian elephants, both in wild populations as well as those cared for by humans.
Often, it remains latent, causing mild or no symptoms, but for reasons unknown it can sometimes come out of latency and cause disease.
Once the disease becomes active in calves, it is usually fatal, often causing death within few days even with intensive treatment.
When she was lethargic and uninterested in food on Thursday morning, vets treated her with fluids, medication and a transfusion, but to no avail
Lily succumbed to the viral infection late Thursday night - one day before her sixth birthday
Lily was the youngest of the zoo elephant family, of which 5 elephants remain. Friday would have been her 6th birthday
For this reason, the zoo routinely sends blood samples to the Smithsonian's National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory.
On Wednesday, blood sample analyses from the Smithsonian's lab revealed the virus was active in Lily at very low levels. At that time, Lily showed no known clinical signs of disease.
However, by the next morning, Lily began to exhibit lethargy and a disinterest in food prompting veterinary staff to begin immediate treatment with fluids and antiviral medication.
She also was given a transfusion, but despite these efforts, the disease proved too much for her.
Currently there is no vaccination against EEHV. In 1999, scientists at the Smithsonian and Johns Hopkins University developed a blood test that can detect the virus when it becomes active.
There is no way to tell if an elephant is going to get sick from EEHV. Veterinarians can only find the virus once it’s circling through the animal’s blood, at which point it may be too late to treat
For zoo staff, it’s particularly hard. Elephants are intelligent animals with strong personalities, and Lily was, by all accounts, vivacious
Unfortunately, once the virus is active, there is usually very little time to treat an elephant.
The virus affects wild elephants as well, although it is harder to identify and diagnose, and its occurrence in range countries is overshadowed by much more serious threats such as poaching, habitat loss and human-elephant conflict.
Scientists have confirmed around 60 EEHV deaths among elephants in Asian range countries over the past decade.
Scientists believe most, if not all, Asian elephants in the world carry some form of EEHV — an ancient virus that has evolved along with elephants for millions of years.
For the past 16 years, the Oregon Zoo has been contributing funding and blood samples from all its elephants to the Smithsonian lab, as part of a collaborative international effort to find a vaccine or effective treatment for EEHV, which is the leading cause of death in Asian elephants under the age of eight in North America.
'It's very difficult to study the virus in wild elephants,' Dr. Moore said. 'But zoos can monitor their elephant herds closely and obtain samples of blood and other fluids. Right now, that's our best hope of developing a vaccine.'
The zoo explained what happened and posted a tribute on its social media sites
Lily died in the presence of zoo staff and her mother as well (pictured)
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/01/sudden-death-of-five-year-old-baby-elephant-leaves-oregon-zoo-staff-heartbroken/
Main photo article Staff at Oregon Zoo are in mourning after the sudden and unexpected loss of Lily, a young elephant, one day before her sixth birthday.
Despite exhaustive efforts by veterinarians and care staff to save her, Lily succumbed late on Friday night night to a sudden onset of endotheliotropic ...
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Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/01/18/6887334-6450161-image-a-50_1543688114437.jpg
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