On January 24th and 25th 2011, more than 80 participants from five countries, including veterinarians, virologists, epidemiologists, elephant care specialists, and administrators gathered to collaborate and provide updates on critical ongoing EEHV research. During this 7th Annual International EEHV workshop, we re-affirmed our commitment to unraveling the epidemiology of this disease and to developing science-based treatment and management recommendations.

Several aims and objectives were outlined during this conference including the need to “create an EEHV information resource that meets the needs of all facilities, is a place where people can share experiences in a safe, secure environment, and where information of value to the elephant community is disseminated quickly and updated frequently. This resource will be designed to educate and raise awareness.”

The result being the launch of The EEHV Information Page at www.eehvinfo.com in the spring of 2011. Dr. Jon Cracknell, now Director of Longleat Safari and Adventure Park, established the original website and organized the pages and the original content, with input from others active in EEHV research. Dr. Cracknell served as webmaster for the site from 2011 until 2014, and singlehandedly kept the website organized, faithfully inducted new members to the members only area, and fielded any questions to the site. The EEHV community is indebted to Dr. Cracknell for his time and financial investment into the website.

In 2014, the newly formed EEHV Advisory Group took over responsibility for updating content and changing the look and organization of the page to meet changing needs of the EEHV and elephant community. The official site changed from .com to .org with this transfer of duties. What data should be public and which should be password protected has also been changed, due to the increasing awareness and better public understanding of EEHV. With financial support from the Oregon Zoo, the EEHV Advisory Group has been able to fund a part-time web designer to help make the site as functional as possible. Erin Latimer, of the National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory, has dedicated many hours to securing updated information from subject matter experts, updating links and resources, and communicating with our new web designer.