Dr Mark Pilgrim said “Indali, wonderful little fighter that she is, and her incredible survival story, has given us enormous hope.”
The two-year-old Asian elephant called Indali contracted the deadly EEHV virus, which threatens the elephant population globally
A large team of specialists from around the UK worked around the clock at Chester Zoo for over two weeks nursing her back to health.
She has now defied the odds and fully recovered after being struck down by the virus.
Zoo keepers, vets and scientists were able to detect the virus earlier than ever before at the zoo, thanks to high tech, on site blood testing techniques.
This meant that specialists were able to begin treatment before Indali showed any outward signs of illness.
The calf’s survival has been marked as a ‘momentous, historic step’ for Chester zoo and is a major milestone in the life saving research towards increasing survival rates in the Aisian elephant population.
Indali, two-year-old Asian elephant at Chester Zoo has made a full recovery from the deadly EEHV virus (Image: Chester zoo)
Chester zoo, the APHA and the University of Surrey are the at the forefront of attempting to develop an effective vaccine which will be rolled out world wide.
Indali, two-year-old Asian elephant at Chester Zoo has made a full recovery from the deadly EEHV virus (Image: Chester zoo)
“Although we are still unable to grow the virus in a lab, our team are exploring new avenues of biomedical science based on characterising the proteins produced by the virus and determining the response to them by the elephant’s immune system.”