A contagious disease affecting giant pandas at a wildlife center in China has killed two more animals, the Independent reported.
Veterinarians at the Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue and Research Center in Xi'an are worried that the disease might spread to other pandas residing in the facility.
The disease, caused by the canine distemper virus, was first discovered in the facility in December of last year. On Dec. 6, medical tests conducted on Chengcheng, an eight-year-old panda, revealed that the animal has been infected by the virus. Three days later, the animal died.
"On Dec. 6, a breeder conducted a routine inspection of the panda's house and saw giant panda Chengcheng suddenly fall down and start twitching," the wildlife center's director Han Xueli said during a media briefing.
"We immediately drew some blood for tests," Xueli added. "We sent the blood sample to two different research centers and confirmed that Chengcheng was suffering from canine distemper. On Dec. 9, Chengcheng died."
Shortly after Chengcheng's death, another giant panda, Dabao, died because of the virus, according to CNN. Fearing that other pandas might be carrying the disease, officials from the wildlife center conducted medical tests on the other animals.
They discovered that another panda, Feng Feng, has also contracted the canine distemper virus. Tests on the animal showed that the disease has already damaged the panda's lungs, kidney, heart and liver. In an effort to save Feng Feng, veterinarians have begun to use antiviral therapy.
The wildlife center is still trying to identify the cause of the infections. However, they are having a hard time protecting the pandas from the virus due to the unavailability of an effective vaccine.
"It's hard on giant pandas, because no companies or research institutions at home produce vaccines that are specially designed for giant pandas," professor Jin Yipeng of the Veterinary Medicine at China Agriculture University told the Chinese state media CCTV.
"In Other words, we can hardly find a vaccine that can give effective protection," Yipeng added.
