Posted on 01/25/2009 2:05:16 PM PST by nickcarraway
A person has been infected but is not ill with the Ebola Reston virus after coming into contact with sick pigs in the northern Philippines, the health secretary said today, adding that the risk to others is negligible.
Blood samples were taken from 50 pig farm and slaughterhouse workers in Bulucan and Pangasinan provinces where pigs were found to be infected with the virus in December. One tested positive for Ebola Reston virus antibodies, indicating the worker was exposed to the virus more than six months ago, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.
The person, whose identity has not been released, has not been seriously ill in the past 12 months, Duque said.
Dr Eric Dayag, the head of the National Epidemiology Center, said two farms have been quarantined but no people.
The case might be the first pig-to-human transmission of the virus, but authorities have not yet concluded their investigation, Duque said. The samples were tested by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rare virus — first discovered among monkeys south of Manila in 1989 — has not been known to cause serious illness among humans. At least 25 people in the Philippines became infected with the virus from monkeys, but only one of them exhibited mild flu-like symptoms.
About a dozen experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health have been helping Manila investigate the risk of the virus to humans since it was confirmed in pigs in December in the northern Philippines.
Julie Hall, the WHO’s Western Pacific region team leader for emerging infectious diseases, said no person who caught the Ebola Reston virus has ever “suffered significant illness” but that the virus needed to be further investigated.
The Ebola virus has five subtypes: The Zaire, Sudan, Bundibugyo subtypes are associated with deadly hemorrhagic fever in humans. The Cote d’Ivoire and Reston subtypes are not, according to WHO.
It didn’t take long.
Is he/she infectious, but not ill?
Hi I remember reading a book on the Ebola Reston outbreak quite a few years ago...riviting book and I think the title was “Hot Spot” They made it into a movie with I think Dustin Hoffman. As usual the book was better..
The only thing I remember from the movie (as I didn't watch it all the way through) was the scene where the native doctor looks up and sees them spraying fuel mist from helicopters before they detonate a fuel-air explosion to sterilize the area.
Very interesting considering a couple of factors. Not quite as lethal if I recall (60-75% mortality instead of something like 90%), but it was airborne among the monkeys.
The Hot Zone - Richard Preston.
LOL I remember the monkeys......
Thanks Its been years since I read it but worth a reread..
The virus wasn’t that lethal but there was a 100% mortality. They depopulated the primate colony...
I remember it scared the heck out of me. Airborne Ebola... yikes!
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