Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus Is Omnipresent in Elephants in European Zoos and an Asian Elephant Range Country
Tabitha E. Hoornweg,
Willem Schaftenaar,
Gilles Maurer,
Petra B. van den Doel,
Fieke M. Molenaar,
Alexandre Chamouard-Galante,
Francis Vercammen,
Victor P. M. G. Rutten,
Cornelis A. M. de Haan
Affiliations
Tabitha E. Hoornweg
Section Virology, Division Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE), Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Univ. Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, 34090 Montpellier, France
Petra B. van den Doel
ViroScience Lab, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 CN Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Fieke M. Molenaar
Zoological Society of London, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, Dunstable LU6 2LF, Bedfordshire, UK
Alexandre Chamouard-Galante
École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France
Francis Vercammen
Antwerp Zoo Centre for Research and Conservation, Antwerp Zoo Society, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
Victor P. M. G. Rutten
Section Immunology, Division Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
Cornelis A. M. de Haan
Section Virology, Division Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
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.
