Chiang Mai University Mobile Veterinary Clinic July Update

The CMU Mobile Vet team stayed busy in July collaborating with others across the region to provide support for a standing sedation to test a 60-year-old elephant for tuberculosis, provide advice and discuss elephant health topics at a local camp, conduct a training course for Long Island University students with the TECC team, and assisted in the annual health check program for elephants in the Mae Wang region.

Elephant after her annual health check up

Thankfully, there was only a small number of additional, relatively minor, cases that needed their attention as well in July. Among the cases the CMU team visited were a minor mouth injury that, while not very pretty, seemed to cause no issues or pain for the patient and so the vets recommended no major actions and observations to make sure it doesn’t worsen. There was also a case of GI upset in a 40-year-old that had resolved with advice to hydrate more often and a suggested uphill hike with her mahout. And a tall, handsome bull presented with a chronic abscess on his left forelimb. The vet cleaned and removed the dirt outside with chlorhexidine scrub, rinsed with saline irrigation, then drained the abscess revealing the narrow tract. Finally, they dried it with a cotton swab and gauze then put bacitracin ointment on it.

Bull with abscess being treated

There were also a few cases involving young elephants this month. The first was a 13-year-old who presented with right forelimb stiffness. When the vets observed her gait, they found that she could not flex her elbow joint. After a course of painkillers, topical treatments, and a daily warm massage regimen she showed improvement. The next case was a young 5-month-old calf experiencing mild lameness with a slightly swollen left hind leg. The CMU vets examined the leg and foot pad, both of which presented nothing abnormal. The little bull was also bright, alert, and acting normal otherwise. After a round of anti-inflammatory meds and a topical treatment the calf showed great improvement.

Bright, attentive little bull with mild lameness

The most challenging case of the month was a first-time mother with a tiny calf. The newborn was reportedly lethargic and caretakers were worried she was unable to nurse appropriately. Several different groups came to help assess mother and calf. They determined that mom and calf were stuck in a cycle, because baby wasn’t nursing mom wasn’t producing the hormones required to produce milk, without the milk production baby couldn’t nurse even if she could reach, and so on.  Eventually, the solution was to give the mom domperidone to stimulate prolactin secretion for milk production, build a ramp for the calf to stand on in order to nurse, and to avoid undue stress on mom the mahout would bring them back to the ramp every couple of hours to ensure baby had the opportunity to nurse often. The calf was finally able to nurse and mahouts will keep a close eye on the two for the next weeks and months.

Tiny calf nursing during examination from the vet

Thank you to the CMU Veterinary Team for their outstanding commitment to Thailand’s elephants! And thank YOU to all who help support their work through AES!

Chiang Mai University Mobile Vet Clinic May Update

Sad news this month from Thailand. In the afternoon of May 16, the chief mahout of camp in Mae Wang called our vet about a 3-year-old calf who got facial swelling.  A mahout had noticed that the young male calf presented mild swelling on his jaw but was still acting normally; eating well, sleeping, urinating, and defecating. The CMU team immediately asked the mahout to send pictures and some videos for evaluation. The team rushed to see the calf for a physical evaluation and referred the calf to the TECC hospital for emergency treatment. The calf was depressed. He had mild to moderate facial swelling, especially at both jaws and the area above the eyes. His tongue presented the purple spots consistent with hemorrhaging. He also had a fever and a mild watery diarrhea with quite a bad smell. Many EEHV symptoms were present. At the same time the TECC team was working hard to find suitable blood donors to immediately start a blood transfusion when the calf arrived.

Calf was lethargic upon the team’s arrival

The veterinarians gave an antiviral drug and vitamin C to the elephant. The calf also received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the fever from infection and the inflammatory process. At the hospital he got a platelet-rich plasma transfusion that night. The next day he got a second blood transfusion. The TECC team provided extreme treatment against EEHV. The EEHV test from CMU showed that the calf tested positive for type 1 and 4 co-infection. Unfortunately, he couldn't be saved. He passed away on day 3 of the intensive care.

Veterinarian draws blood to match for plasma donation

This case reminds us just how important our work is and how much fundraisers like Pizza for Pachyderms can help impact the care of elephants in Asia. This little calf’s treatment was funded in part through AES and donations from people like you. We are extremely grateful to the teams from the CMU mobile vet unit and thee TECC for their efforts to treat this calf and others affected by EEHV.

  Thank you to the CMU Veterinary Team for their outstanding commitment to Thailand’s elephants! And thank YOU to all who help support their work through AES!

CMU Mobile Vet Clinic April Update

April was a busy month for the CMU Mobile Vet team! In addition to routine health checks and blood draws there seemed to be many calls concerning wounds of all types this month along with some musculoskeletal concerns.
 
Early in the month the team checked in on two geriatric cows who had not been seen by vets in a couple years. At 50 and 60 years old, both cows were deemed to be in good health and body condition. They received parasite control, tetanus vaccines, and blood work all showed normal conditions. The vets also visited three other elephants for blood work a few days later. And later in the month, the vets visited a small, 5 member herd with a new owner who wanted to ensure the health of all including a 1.5 month old calf. All seemed happy and healthy and the team educated the owner and mahout on preventative care and EEHV. 

Geriatric cow getting a check up

Newest member of the small herd to get a check up

There were several wounds that seemed to be the result of minor interactions. One cow had a small wound with swelling under the eye after being hit inadvertently by her young son’s small tusk, which healed well a few days later. Another case presented an elephant who had knife wounds in the right shoulder area and right rear leg. The vets were able to flush necrotic tissue from the area, removed pus, dressed the wound with instructions on how to continue cleaning and dressing for the mahout. She also received antibiotic treatment and pain medication. On her second follow up they found the wound had dried and closed up. In one wound case, a young elephant at a festival managed to slice her tongue and lip on broken glass. The mahout was able to stem the bleeding and vets later cleaned the wound, administered pain medications and a tetanus shot upon assessing the wound condition. The little cow was still able to eat well and healed up nicely.  

Mom with a swollen eye

Elephant from festival getting tetanus vaccine

In several of the cases involving wound or musculoskeletal issues the vet team was able to use laser therapy to help with inflammation. One 30-year-old female presenting with stiffness in her forelimbs received laser therapy after the CMU team was able to utilize a thermo-scanning camera in order to detect the area of inflammation. In addition to the laser treatment, she also received painkillers and a prescribed hot oil massage. Laser treatment was also used in another case. This female had a history of nail rot and during a recent foot care session 2 new fistula wounds had occurred under the nail. The vets swabbed the wound for bacterial culture and then were able to apply laser therapy using the stick laser probe which was inserted into the holes in the nail.

Using a camera to find inflammation on a thermal scan

Inserting laser probe into nail to treat wound

Thank you to the CMU Veterinary Team for their outstanding commitment to Thailand’s elephants! And thank YOU to all who help support their work through AES!
 

CMU Mobile Vet Clinic Updates - November 2023

November was a very busy month for the CMU Team. It was a month of excitement, highs, and sadly, some hard lows. It’s months like these that exemplify exactly why the CMU veterinarians and the Mobile Vet program are so invaluable to the elephants and surrounding communities.

In addition to all their usual responsibilities the CMU team was also quite involved in preparations for and hosting of the 5th Asian EEHV Working Group Meeting and the 19th International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium. The meeting and symposium ran back-to-back over five days in the middle of the month and was a huge success!

The November cases consisted of several cases involving youngsters. One little 7-month-old female presented with lameness in her front right leg which she was dragging as she walked. The vet team tentatively diagnosed her a radial nerve injury which could have caused the dragging. They then gave her analgesia, anti-inflammatory meds, laser therapy, and recommended acupuncture to help with her neuromuscular movement.

Calf receiving laser therapy on her stiff leg

Two other young calves presented with eye issues during the month. At the beginning of the month a 7-month-old little bull had swollen eyes with a laceration. After the vets were able to examine the calf and observed flies gathering near his eyes and the calf itching them repeatedly, they were able to rule out EEHV as a cause and suspected allergies. It took a couple follow-up visits throughout the month to discover a bacterial infection in the laceration that might have been contributing. The owners were instructed on how to rinse his eyes and apply antibiotic treatment. Later in the month, an 18-month-old calf also in the Mae Wang region was seen for lacrimation (excessive tears). The vets recommended an eye rinse for her one to two times a day to help wash away dust, dirt, and other possible irritants.

(Left) Calf with blepharitis (inflammation of eyelids) in both eyes. (Right) Other calf had lacrimation (excessive tears) in both eyes

Unfortunately, November also brought some difficult cases. On the morning of November 9th, a Mae Tang camp owner called for help concerning 8 elephants with colic ranging from moderate to severe. They had all eaten from the same plot of grasses. Another vet from the TEAA was asked to aid in the emergency response. They started fluid therapy in 5 elephants and provided supportive drugs including an anti-inflammatory, opioid, anti-gastric acid secretion, and vitamins. Two elephants were considered severe and transported to the hospital for more intensive care. The elephants at the camp continued treatment through the night and some got better, but the following morning two of them were sent to the team at the hospital at the TECC. In the end most of the elephants recovered with the constant care and intensive treatments, but two elephants died, one from intestinal torsion and the other from sepsis.

Obvious bulging sides of cow experiencing colic

The vets were called out for the necropsy and sample collection of a six-year-old calf in Mae Tang who had been depressed and not eating just the day before and died suddenly that morning of the 22nd. His death was attributed to EEHV 4 and is the first of the season in that region. The vets visited the rest of the young calves in the camp and all non-pregnant and weaned calves were given antihelminth and vitamin C. The veterinarian gave suggestions for management to the owner and the mahouts were educated about the importance of vigilant observation (especially of the young calves) for the detection of EEHV.
 
To wrap the month up Dr. Paan teamed up with several other vets to collect whole blood that was to be donated by a healthy female elephant. Thanks to the Mae Tang Elephant Camp the team of vets were able to collect 19 bags of 450mL of whole blood from a cow named Kam Noi. Whole blood donations are a very important component of treating seriously ill elephant patients with a myriad of conditions, including EEHV. These bags of donated blood can be spun down into plasma and then kept cold for the next several months and ready to use in the next critical case.

The veterinarian team for blood collection including: vets from CMU, a vet from Mae Tang camp, a vet from TEAA, and a vet from Lao PDR (internship) along with donor, Kam Noi

To support the work of the CMU Veterinary Team as they
provide life-saving health care to Northern Thailand’s elephants, please visit www.asianelephantsupport.org to make a donation. 

CMU Mobile Vet Clinic Updates - October 2023

Dr. Paan and the team were busy during October again, visiting elephants in Mae Wang, Mae Tang, Mae Rim and Hang Dong districts of Northern Thailand. October’s cases were mainly made up of wound care, mild lameness, lameness caused by a wound, and a dental visit thrown in to mix things up. 
 
A female elephant in Mae Wang had a pre-existing tail injury which the doctors returned to check on in October. Upon examination, it was noted that the tail was not healing as well as could be hoped. The tip of the tail had become necrotic and as the tissue was being cleaned away a piece of bone was visible through the tissue and pus present. The necrotic tip had to be removed all together. Two weeks later at her follow up appointment, the cow’s tail had recovered quite nicely with no more pus or necrosis. It is expected to heal completely. 

A piece of tailbone protruded from the wound

Another highlight was the CMU vets visiting a male elephant in Mae Tang who was stiff on his right front leg. The vet at the camp where the tusker resided had requested the CMU team bring their laser therapy equipment, which they did on October 10. About a week earlier, the mahout had noticed a small swollen nodule on that leg, and now the elephant was stiff. The vets determined that this nodule would eventually turn into an abscess, so quick treatment was necessary. Using the thermal scanner, the team was able to determine where other areas of swelling and inflammation were located on the leg. Luckily, there weren’t any other areas of inflammation found on that leg, so the vets decided to start laser therapy on the nodule to
stimulate the cells and  relieve some pain for the elephant. Another laser treatment was done a week later, but by that time the abscess had burst. However, after the second round of laser therapy, the elephant was walking normally, and seemed to be in less pain.

Dr. Pann applying laser therapy to an abscess causing pain and lameness

Later in the month, the team went to Mae Rim to perform some traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, on an eight-year-old female elephant that the vets were following up with who was suffering from lameness. The team couldn’t perform the acupuncture with needles, since the elephant
wouldn’t stand still, so they went to plan B and used laser acupuncture. Due to the high power and heat coming from the acupuncture machine, the elephant was a little frustrated, however, the vets finished the procedure within 5-10  minutes. Laser therapy was also performed on the lame area for further treatment. The team will perform the laser acupuncture 1 time per week for a total of 6 weeks. 

CMU Vet applying laser acupuncture technique with help of guest expert

To support Dr. Paan and the CMU Veterinary Team as they provide life-saving health care to Northern Thailand’s elephants, please visit www.asianelephantsupport.org to make a donation.

EEHV Working Group Meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Presenters and attendees at 5th Asian EEHV Working Group Meeting

The 5th Asian EEHV Working Group Meeting 2023, was held at Chiang Mai University, on November 13. This event gathered around 70 people from many countries around the world. Sixteen presenters were country representatives who updated attendees about the EEHV situation in each region with the number of cases, the availability of laboratory spaces and equipment, and the gaps and needs of their region’s efforts to combat EEHV. Some of them still need a budget to set up their laboratories. However, this event was a great opportunity for connection and collaboration among EEHV researchers and practitioners. In addition, there were interesting presentations from subject matter experts updating on diagnosis and treatment, updates on immune response, and advancements in vaccine development (which many participants were eager to hear about). In addition to the individual presentations, there was a group session for brainstorming on the topics of diagnosis, treatment, and research in order to exchange knowledge and share discoveries. AES is grateful that the elephant community had such a wonderful opportunity for participants to meet with each other to collaborate against EEHV, a devastating obstacle in the way of elephant conservation.