 EEHV1A ( originally just known as EEHV1 ) was the first species / type identified , which causes an acute hemorrhagic disease with a very high mortality rate in Asian elephants . This form of the virus was originally believed to occur naturally in African elephants ( occasionally producing skin nodules ) , and to be transmitted to Asian elephants within captivity , but more extensive studies have since largely disproved this concept because several other species / types of EEHV ( e.g. EEHV2 , EEHV3 and EEHV6 ) instead have been identified in African elephants . A second lethal subtype , EEHV1B , was identified in Asian elephants in 2001 . EEHV3 , EEHV4 and EEHV5 have also each been responsible for the deaths of at least one Asian elephant calf . 
