Giant panda at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province. [Photo/VCG] 
 
 Twelve giant pandas in Sichuan province have contracted an eye disease, medical experts said recently. 
 
 Netizens have raised concerns about the condition of the pandas since January, when images posted online by people who had visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding showed an animal with white scabs around its eyes. 
 
 In January, a team of experts led by Luo Qingli, an ophthalmologist at Chengdu Huaxia Eye hospital, and Ran Yuping, a dermatologist at West China Hospital in Chengdu, were brought in to determine the source of the problem. 
 
 According to Luo, they examined two pandas, Yongyong and Xiaoya, and found the iconic black circles around their eyes had become white due to a loss of fur. 
 
 "Both pandas had shed fur around the eyes," Luo said. "Yongyong, the one with a more serious condition, also had ulcers around the eyes." 
 
 Twelve pandas had contracted the disease, Luo said. The cause was unknown. 
 
 Sichuan is much more humid than other areas of China, offering a favorable environment for the spread of bacteria and mites. Some of the pandas are sensitive to the bacteria, a base employee told news website ThePaper.cn. 
 
 Mites are about 0.5 mm in length and may transmit diseases in certain conditions. 
 
 The base issued a statement in January, saying that no more than 10 pandas had contracted the disease. 
 
 The base is actively cooperating with experts from Sichuan Agricultural University to tackle the disease, the statement said. 
 
 They had received treatment previously, but the medicine didn't work as expected. All of the infected pandas have been quarantined and will receive another round of treatment with new medicine, it said. 
 
 The base has since declined to release information about the condition of the panda. A base official said on Wednesday it has no plan to issue further statements about the pandas' health. 

 Some giant pandas living in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Southwest China's Sichuan Province are suffering from a disease that turns their eye patch from black to white, as the official explanation of the cause of the disease remains undisclosed. 
 
 
 
 The base has consulted two Chengdu-based medical experts on the disease, but a report issued by the experts shows no conclusive diagnosis, Science and Technology Daily reported on Wednesday. 
 
 
 
 According to the report, the base confirmed that some giant pandas recently contracted partial depilation around the eyes. 
 
 
 
 The breeding base declined to provide further information when reached by the Global Times on Thursday, noting that "information was released on the base's website." 
 
 
 
 However, the website has posted no relevant announcement as of press time. 
 
 
 
 A human disease with similar symptoms is called Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease (VKH), characterized by hair, eyebrows and eyelashes turning white and grey, Luo Qingli, a ophthalmologist at Chengdu Huaxia Eye Hospital, was quoted by the Science and Technology Daily as saying. 
 
 
 
 "The sick pandas are not affected by VKH," Luo said, noting that the exact cause remains undisclosed. 
 
 
 
 Netizens raised concerns over the pandas' health while the report has gone viral. This is not the first time the giant pandas at the base have suffered from an eye disease. 
 
 
 
 A Sina Weibo user "tusansui" questioned the base's treatment of giant pandas, saying "there were reports about the disease several months ago, but why haven't the pandas been healed?" Another user "anyihhh" accused the base of not admitting that the pandas are affected by mites. 
 
 
 
 Ten giant pandas at the base suffered from mite infections around the eyes. As a result, the black patches around the affected pandas' eyes were partially white, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported in January 2018. 
 
 
 
 Global Times 

 Scientists are scrambling to learn why the distinctive black patches around the eyes of giant pandas are fading away in some animals. 
 
 Twelve bears at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding are losing fur around the eyes, making it appear as though the black patches are turning white, reports China Daily today (May 4). 
 
 Pandas losing their black eyes! Recently, the black hairs surrounding the eyes of several pandas in SW China's Chengdu have fallen out. The cause is still under investigation. pic.twitter.com/XfbjY3vbF9 — Global Times (@globaltimesnews) May 3, 2018 
 
 The patches are the bears’ most distinctive trait, and there’s evidence to suggest they help them recognize one another. 
 
 In addition to the fur loss, some of the 12 bears are suffering from ulcers around their eyes, according to Luo Qinglin, an ophthalmologist who examined the pandas. The affected animals have been quarantined at the base, which is home to more than 150 pandas (link in Chinese) in China’s Sichuan province. 
 
 Luo began studying the pandas’ symptoms along with dermatologist Ran Yuping in January, after photos of several bears with the condition were shared on Chinese social media. 
 
 So far, they have not found the condition’s cause. Scientists have ruled out uveoencephalitis, a disease that can result in hair loss and hair whitening (link in Chinese) in humans. 
 
 In January, the research center issued a statement (link in Chinese) saying 10 pandas were infested with mites (it later increased the number to 12). Pandas are sensitive to mites, it said, and the parasites have caused fur loss in the animals before. Sichuan’s humid environment makes it easy for mites and bacteria to thrive. 
 
 But when the affected pandas were given drugs known to repel mites, the treatment proved ineffective. The base said it was considering using another drug. 
 
 In 2013, a pair of panda siblings in a Hangzhou zoo also experienced shedding around the eyes. The zoo said mites likely caused the “whitening” of their dark patches. The condition did not prove fatal, as in 2016 the bears were transferred back to their birthplace (link in Chinese), the Chengdu breeding base.
– A dozen pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding appear to be losing their distinctive black eye patches. Their plight got attention on social media after users posted pictures of pandas whose eye patches appeared to be turning white, Quartz reports. What's actually happening: The pandas are losing fur around the eyes. A team of experts has been attempting since January to figure out the root of the problem, but so far they're stumped, China Daily reports. A report from the team says the pandas are suffering from "partial depilation around the eyes," but lists no cause, the Global Times reports. The team has ruled out uveoencephalitis, a disease that can cause hair loss; it's possible bacteria or mites—both of which can thrive in the humid climate of Sichuan province—are causing the issue, and indeed, some pandas at the base have reportedly been infected with mites. But treatment for mites proved ineffective. The affected pandas are quarantined and another medicine will be attempted, and the base says it is cooperating with Sichuan Agricultural University to come up with a solution. (Here's why pandas are black and white.)