Dr. Klotman’s video update for Week 220 focuses on BCM’s collaborations with the veterinarians at the Houston Zoo. The highlight is a program to detect, treat, and ultimately vaccinate elephant calves against an Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus that causes herpes lesions in an elephant’s trunk, can become a hemorrhagic infection, and that can cause death as a result of encephalitis (brain infection). It’s an interesting video for my fellow animal lovers.
On the COVID front, the news that you may have already heard is that the CDC’s vaccine advisory group has unanimously recommended that the new COVID vaccine for this fall target the JN.1 variant that is still causing the majority of new infections. The new vaccine should confer immunity to the KP.2 variant, a descendant of JN.1, that has been spreading rapidly through the US. KP.2 does not appear to cause more severe disease than JN.1 and prior variants.
With any luck, the news on the COVID and elephant fronts will continue to be cheerful.