PITTSBURGH — Officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium said a young bull elephant is being treated for a non-contagious autoimmune disease that is preventing skin lesions from healing.
Zoo officials announced the illness in a news release Thursday.
“We found him down in the stall and he was unable to right himself. We had to actually go in and assist him to get him up,” elephants program manager Willy Tyson said.
Dr. Ginger Takle, the zoo's director of animal health, said the elephant developed skin lesions that healed slowly and weren't responding to antibiotics. But more tests were done, and the auto immune disease was confirmed, after keepers found the elephant lying down and unable to get up by himself in recent weeks.
"We found him down in the stall and he was unable to right himself. We had to actually go in and assist him to get him up,” Takle said. "He takes pills once to twice a day with the steroids and he's also on oral antibiotics to make sure that his skin wounds don't become infected."
Tests for liver and kidney disease are negative.
“He’s actually a typical 6-year-old little bull. He’s full of energy and he thinks he’s the hottest thing in the barn,” Tyson said.
The autoimmune disease prevents an animal's immune system from combating diseases and infections, and causes the immune system to instead attack normal, healthy cells.
"He takes pills, once to twice a day with the steroids and he's also on oral antibiotics to make sure that his skin wounds don't become infected,” Takle said. "He's certainly much brighter, much more active, and he's got his appetite back. So the drugs appear to be working, fingers crossed."