Elephant herpes: Super-shedders endanger young animals

Elephants have species-specific herpesviruses, which frequently lead to death, especially in the young. Researchers have traced the infection transmission route of different elephant calves, recognizing the following in the process: some animals do not shed the virus or shed it only rarely, while other do so frequently. In the process, these super-shedders and their offspring are only mildly affected by the virus, but endanger the juveniles of non-shedders in particular.

Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - May 3, 2017 Category: Science Source Type: news