International Workshops

September 2005 saw the first EEHV workshop with International delegates accumulating the known knowledge and identifying the areas that required work, highlighting areas of high importance including what aspects needed to be known and what resources were available for the study of EEHV. Ten years after Richman et al (1996) identified the need for elucidation of the epidemiology there was still very little known.

This was followed up a year later by the second EEHV workshop in Copenhagen. Little development had been made from the last meeting except for improvements in the ELISA technology at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, and the development of possible screening techniques using ultrasound guided biopsies of retropharyngeal lymph nodes. Therapeutic techniques were reviewed and guidelines were drawn up as well as the proposed development of education material for elephant keepers.

Hildebrandt et al (2005) published the technique for ultrasound-guided biopsy of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes as a possible way to obtain suitable ante mortem tissues for EEHV PCR. Thirty nine elephants were biopsied and blood samples were taken. All tested negative by PCR. This may be of use in detection of carriers of EEHV but at present has not resulted in a positive case.