INDIANAPOLIS — "Our hearts are broken." said Indianapolis Zoo President Dr. Rob Shumaker.
His comments came Tuesday after the zoo announced that, for the second time in two weeks, one of its young African elephants had died.
8-year-old Kalina passed away, three days after first showing signs of the virus EEHV.
Last week, 6-year-old Nyah died of the same virus.
Shumaker said zoo staff "worked around the clock" hoping to save the animals.
According to the zoo, EEHV is one of the most deadly viral infections found in elephants worldwide, but is most common in Asian elephants.
The virus causes fatal bleeding and strikes without warning, according to Shumaker.
He called it a "very aggressive disease."
Shumaker said the zoo's six remaining elephants have not shown any signs of the virus.
"Words cannot describe the emotional impact this is having on zoo staff," said spokesperson Jury Palermo. "Everyone in our zoo family is devastated."
The zoo issued additional information on the animal deaths in this release:
What happened to Nyah and Kalina? We will not know for sure until we receive all the lab and pathology reports, but we believe that Nyah had multiple organ failures brought on by elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, or EEHV. EEHV is a type of herpesvirus that can cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic disease in mostly young elephants in the wild and in human care. Although fatalities from EEHV are much more common in Asian elephants, there have been deaths in African elephants due to complications associated with EEHV. Days later, when Kalina started showing the same initial signs of discomfort as Nyah, The Zoo’s veterinarians began aggressive treatment immediately with antibiotic and antiviral medications to treat for EEHV and other possible causes of the symptoms.
What is EEHV? Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a type of herpesvirus of various strains that can cause fatal hemorrhagic disease in elephants – there are multiple strains of the virus and all result in high fatality rates. EEHV is one of the most devastating viral infectious diseases in elephants worldwide but is most commonly found in Asian elephants. It occurs in elephants in the wild as well as those in human care such as in sanctuaries and zoos. EEHV can strike without warning.
EEHV is not common in African elephants with only four confirmed prior cases in zoos, two of which were fatal. There are extensive protocols in place guiding the treatment of the disease in Asian elephants and we used many of those protocols to guide our treatment of Kalina. All of the elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo have been tested for EEHV and until now, none of them tested positive.
Was Nyah treated for EEHV? Nyah was not treated for EEHV, which in African elephants is rare. The progression of her illness was acute with death occurring within less than 48 hours of staff initially observing symptoms that mimicked colic. The presence of positive EEHV was identified postmortem.
How did Nyah and Kalina contract the virus? Scientists and veterinarians have not been able to determine how EEHV is transmitted or why it becomes suddenly active from its dormant phase, and we do not know what caused the virus to suddenly become active in Nyah and Kalina. It is widely believed that most Asian and African elephants both in zoological environments and in the wild have been exposed and carry EEHV. In most elephants, EEHV remains dormant with no signs of infection. All of the elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo have been tested for EEHV in the past, and until now, none of them have tested positive.It is likely that many of the elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo have been EEHV carriers and have passed the virus onto their offspring or each other. Nyah showed signs of discomfort on Sunday March 17 and died the morning of March 19. Kalina first presented symptoms on March 23 and died late morning on March 26.
Is EEHV contagious? This disease can only affect elephants and is not infectious to humans or other animals. EEHV is likely contagious among elephants but scientists who have been studying the virus for several years do not know definitively how the virus transmits one elephant to another.
When did Kalina show signs of Illness? On Saturday, March 23, 8-year-old elephant Kalina started showing symptoms like Nyah’s. Our veterinarians began aggressive treatment immediately with antibiotic and antiviral medications. Our veterinarians communicated with experts worldwide, and the full resources of the community of zoos were directed toward her care. Despite these efforts, Kalina just before noon March 26.
