BY KERRY BREEN

JULY 1, 2023 / 12:59 PM/ CBS NEWS

• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louisville-zoo-announces-three-year-old-elephant-calf-fitz-has-died-of-virus/

A beloved 3-year-old elephant calf born and raised at the Louisville Zoo died on Friday night, the zoo said in a news release.

Fitz would have turned four on Aug. 2, 2023, the zoo said, and was the offspring of 37-year-old Mikki, who also lives at the Kentucky-based Louisville Zoo.

Zoo staff first noticed that Fitz was lethargic on June 25. A blood sample was sent out and he was diagnosed with endotheliotropic herpesvirus, more commonly known as EEHV, a “hemorrhagic disease that aggressively affects blood cells,” the zoo said. There is no vaccine for the virus, and the survival rate is only 20 to 30% in most cases, the zoo said.

Fitz’s diagnosis with the illness was confirmed on June 28, and he was treated around-the-clock with care, including antiviral medications, plasma transfusions multiple times a day…