Identification of African Elephant Polyomavirus in wild elephants and the creation of a vector expressing its viral tumor antigens to transform elephant primary cells.
Wild elephant populations are declining rapidly due to rampant killing for ivory and body parts, range fragmentation, and human-elephant conflict.Wild and captive elephants are further impacted by viruses, including highly pathogenic elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses.Moreover, while the rich genetic diversity of the ancient elephant lineage i