Vets Turn To Common Garden Herb To Treat Tigress With Deadly Viral Disease

Giloy, the climbing herb found in gardens and forests across India, has found an unusual patient in Madhya Pradesh -- a young tigress battling canine distemper, one of the most dangerous viral diseases affecting wild carnivores.

For more than a month, the injured tigress from Rani Durgavati Tiger Reserve, Nauradehi, has been under treatment at Jabalpur's School of Wildlife and Forensic Health. Her recovery has been uncertain, with periods of improvement followed by weakness. But wildlife officials say an attempt to supplement her treatment with giloy has shown encouraging results.

Dr Sameeta Rajora, Madhya Pradesh's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), told NDTV that while the tigress was undergoing treatment, there were concerns that the medicines were further weakening her immune system. That prompted the team to explore supportive natural treatment. "She had a problem, but the medicines were further weakening her immune system. We thought of treating her in a natural way and we got very good results from giloy," Rajora told NDTV.

The unusual treatment is only one part of a much larger veterinary protocol, and officials are not suggesting giloy as a cure for canine distemper. The tigress remains under close medical supervision and is receiving a complete course of treatment.

Her journey to Jabalpur started in early July. The young tigress had reportedly attacked a worker in the Nauradehi area on July 5. During subsequent patrols, forest personnel spotted her in the Mohali range. She appeared hungry, injured and extremely weak. Capturing her itself took nearly two days.

On July 10, she was taken to the School of Wildlife and Forensic Health at the Veterinary University in Jabalpur. At the time, doctors say, she was so weak that she could barely walk. 

The initial tests brought some relief -- her canine distemper test was negative. But that relief proved short-lived. A subsequent test came back positive for Canine Distemper Virus, or CDV, adding a potentially deadly complication to her injuries and weakness.

Canine distemper is regarded as a serious viral threat to wild carnivores. The virus can affect the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems and has been documented in several carnivore species. Domestic dogs can act as an important reservoir of infection, making the disease a particular concern in wildlife landscapes where villages, livestock, stray dogs and wild carnivores share the same ecological boundaries.

For the Jabalpur team, the challenge has therefore been not merely to heal an injured tiger but to help an already weakened animal fight a dangerous viral infection.

Dr RK Sharma, Director of the SWFH Centre, told NDTV that the tigress has now been undergoing treatment for around one-and-a-half months and is showing visible signs of improvement. "When she came here, she was extremely weak and could not even walk properly. Now she has started walking and eating," Sharma said.

Her diet itself has become a small indicator of her recovery. Doctors initially offered her chicken and subsequently shifted to mutton. She is now eating buffalo meat regularly. At one stage she had been consuming around four to five kilograms of meat, although fluctuations in appetite caused concern when she again began eating less and became weaker.

For veterinarians, her ability to walk and her returning appetite are encouraging signs, but they are not yet enough to declare victory.

The tigress will remain at the Jabalpur centre until doctors are convinced that she has recovered sufficiently to survive independently. Only after a comprehensive assessment will the veterinary team issue a fitness certificate allowing the Forest Department to consider releasing her back into the wild.

"All these things tell us that she is on way to becoming normal," Sharma said. But at this stage, it is impossible to predict how long her recovery will take.