Elephant Died Of Herpes Virus

[Kor37 9]

Officials: Elephant Died of Herpes Virus

By ANNIE FLANZRAICH,AP

Posted: 2007-07-03 15:40:22

SEATTLE (AP) - A previously unknown elephant herpes virus killed the Woodland Park Zoo's youngest Asian elephant, zoo officials said Monday.

 

Six-year-old Hansa, who died last month, was one of 12 elephants fathered by a bull at a zoo in Missouri. Three of the others exhibited herpes symptoms in the past decade. Two of them died, while the third, Chandra, was successfully treated in 1997.

 

Bruce Bohmke, deputy director of the Woodland Park Zoo, said he was not sure if zoo officials knew about Chandra's herpes treatment before the meeting between the bull and Hansa's mother at the Dickerson Zoo in Springfield, Mo., that led to Hansa's conception.

 

Bohmke said it was irrelevant because Hansa died of a previously unknown version of the virus.

 

"It would be irresponsible if we knew for a fact that this outcome was going to happen," Bohmke said. "But it wasn't clear then, like it would be now in hindsight. This is also a different kind of herpes."

 

The disease attacked Hansa's blood vessels, zoo officials said. She died June 8 after showing a decreased appetite and activity. She did not exhibit any of the signs that accompany the previously identified herpes viruses, which include a purple tongue or skin lesions.

 

"We were still pretty sad but grateful to find out the cause," Bohmke said Monday.

 

Because the virus is new, zoo officials have no way of testing to see if the other three elephants at the Woodland Park Zoo, including Hansa's mother, have e have been 21 known cases of herpes viruses involving Asian elephants in North America. Only three have survived, Bohmke said.

 

There is no vaccine for the two previously identified elephant herpes viruses. Scientists successfully treated the three elephants with an anti-viral drug used to treat human herpes.

 

 

 

Obviously, the elephants there have a little red-light district in their enclosure that zoo officials know nothing about....................................

[Gummy 0]

:P :P :biggrin: :P :P

[Wishfire 2]

What's going on, Kor, no comment about Van Roy being the culprit? :biggrin:

[Theunicornhunter 2]

There's more than one kind of herpes - cold sores are caused by a type of herpes