WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A disease that's the leading cause of death among young Asian elephants has been extremely hard for scientists to combat.

But a baby elephant at the National Zoo here in Washington, D.C., is giving them a chance to try a new approach.

The "News Hour"'s Deema Zein went to meet the young little calf at the center of their efforts.

DEEMA ZEIN: Fueling up on elephant formula, following in the footsteps of her older aunties, and taking a quick dip, every day is an adventure for Linh Mai, the National Zoo's baby elephant, the first born here in 25 years.

And she's already a hit.

CHILD: They're cute.

CHILD: They're cute.

CHILD: She was super cute playing around and she looks really active.

DEEMA ZEIN: She's the result of the zoo's yearslong process to build a herd that would aid in the survival of endangered Asian elephants.

But the elephant in the room, calves like Linh Mai, are vulnerable to an often deadly disease.

It's called elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, or EEHV, and all Asian elephants will get it in their lifetime.

While it stays latent in some, roughly 60 percent of baby elephants that develop the disease will die from it.

Scientists think it spreads through trunk-to-trunk contact.

TONY BARTHEL, Director of Animal Care, Smithsonian's National Zoo: That's an insidious disease that really has a significant impact on this species.

DEEMA ZEIN: Tony Barthel is the director of animal care at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

TONY BARTHEL: After that immunity is dissipated, they can have a real crisis.

And they can go from your first subtle symptom to death in a day.

It can be dramatic.

And so cracking that nut is a massive focus of ours here too.

DEEMA ZEIN: So, this year, the zoo's animal care and vet teams are testing a new approach to manage the disease.

Their hope, to expose Linh Mai to EEHV now, while she still has strong antibodies from her mom to fight it.

JAMES STEEIL, Veterinarian, Smithsonian's National Zoo: If we can take hold of the narrative in some ways where we can help expose Linh Mai at times when she is most apt to fight the infection off.

DEEMA ZEIN: James Steeil is one of the zoo's veterinarians.

JAMES STEEIL: Gives us the best ability for her to survive the infection and also then develop lifelong immunity to it.

DEEMA ZEIN: Here's how it works.

Staff squirts saline up the elephant's trunk.

MAN: Good girl.

DEEMA ZEIN: The elephant lowers its trunk, blowing that mucus-filled fluid into a sample bag, collected and sent over to the zoo's EEHV lab for testing.

And, slowly, Linh Mai is exposed to those positive EEHV samples herself via syringe.

JAMES STEEIL: My hope and dreams for this project is that we can develop another tool in the tool chest that allows us to fight this disease at various time points to help prevent the death of any elephant.

DEEMA ZEIN: It's a labor of love for a baby elephant with a rough origin story.

Born in February, Linh Mai's mother behaved aggressively towards her.

So zoo staff worked around the clock to find just the right formula for her to thrive.

TONY BARTHEL: It was a bit of a rocky start, so that sort of consumed all of our time and all of our thoughts and emotions for weeks at the beginning there.

MAN: Stir it for a while, and then we will sift it.

DEEMA ZEIN: They feed Linh Mai every few hours, even overnight, mixing a special formula in their Elephant Community Center.

It's helped pack on the pounds, all 848, and have paired her with companions or -- quote -- "aunties" to help her adjust and grow.

Barthel says it's all worth it for the star of the show.

TONY BARTHEL: It gives us a chance to connect with our guests and bring them into these stories, and tell them about elephants and why elephants are so incredible, and get them engaged in elephant conservation or just interested in elephants in general.

And that's the -- that's the side effect benefit for us to have this little star in our group.

DEEMA ZEIN: Over the sound of little apes nearby attempting to get their five minutes of fame, he says he has big hopes for little Linh Mai.

TONY BARTHEL: My hope for Linh Mai moving forward is that she grows up to be an integral member of an elephant herd and a contributing member of our overall elephant population.

I hope that she has a vibrant social life here.

DEEMA ZEIN: And, clearly, she's already the life of the party.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Deema Zein at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.