Killer virus threatens 3rd giant panda
Print Edition
VETS are racing to save a critically ill giant panda after a measles-like virus recently killed two of the rare bears in captivity in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.
Results of daily medical tests on 5-year-old Feng Feng showed the animal has serious heart, liver, kidney and lung damage caused by canine distemper virus, said a spokesman for the Shaanxi provincial wildlife rescue, breeding and research center.
Feng Feng tested positive for the virus on December 26 and began to show neurological symptoms on January 2. Experts have been conducting antiviral therapy on the bear.
Two other giant pandas — Cheng Cheng and Da Bao, both 8 — died from the disease on December 9 and January 4, respectively. A fourth infected bear, 14-year-old Zhu Zhu, is in a stable condition.
The virus, which affects a variety of animals, including dogs, primates and large cats, targets the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract, as well as the spinal cord and brain.
Infected animals usually have symptoms such as high fever, eye inflammation, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy. The virus commonly spreads through contact with infected body fluids or contaminated food and water.
Prior to the epidemic, the center was home to 25 giant pandas. After the outbreak, the center sent its healthy pandas to nature reserves elsewhere in the province.
Though giant pandas do not contract the virus often, once they become infected, it is hard to detect and the fatality rate is high, panda researcher Hu Jinchu said.
There have so far been no cases of successful treatment of the disease in giant pandas, he said.
The current epidemic in Shaanxi has alerted other giant panda breeding centers in China to strengthen preventive measures.
“Some programs that involve close contact between giant pandas and the public have been suspended,” said an official with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
The base has also begun rounding up stray dogs and cats, and is conduct thorough checks of its fences to prevent stray animals from entering the park area.
Giant pandas are one of the world’s most endangered species. About 1,600 live in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan, while nearly 400 live in captivity.
The cause of the giant panda epidemic in Shaanxi is unclear.
“It might have been caused by domestic or stray animals,” said Jin Yipeng, a veterinary expert at China Agricultural University.
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