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Hoping to tamp down fears about Ebola, the Obama administration said Monday the virus wreaking havoc in West Africa is unlikely to mutate and spread by air. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a fact sheet that says samples from the current outbreak, which has killed about 5,000 abroad and elicited fear in the U.S., are nearly identical — 97 percent the same — as the strains studied when Ebola was discovered in 1976. Scientists monitoring the virus have not seen any evidence that Ebola may be mutating in a way that would make it spread more easily,...

The Ebola virus can spread through the air from pigs to macaques, a new study suggests. Transmission of the virus — which causes an often fatal hemorrhagic fever in people and primates — was thought to require direct contact with body fluids from an infected animal or person. But in the new study, published online November 15 in Scientific Reports, piglets infected with Ebola passed the virus to macaques housed in the same room even though the animals never touched. “The evidence that the virus got from a pig to a monkey through a respiratory route is good,” says Glenn...

Reston ebolavirus (Rebov) has only been seen in monkeys and humans previously and, unlike other types of Ebola, it is not known to cause illness in people. Researchers say it is theoretically possible for the virus to mutate in pigs into a form that might sicken people. The Philippines had tested 141 people, the researchers said, and six of them who either worked on pig farms or with swine products were found with antibodies to the Ebola-Reston virus, which means they might have been infected by pigs at some time. However, they showed no signs of illness. Rebov belongs to...

PANDI, Bulacan — At least six members of the so-called "depopulation team" at Win Farm in this town where 6,000 pigs are infected with the dreaded Ebola Reston virus have been suffering from "some kind of illness," a health officer said. Dr. Joy Gomez, public health officer of Bulacan, confirmed at yesterday’s press briefing that six members of the team have experienced dizziness, headache, and fatigue. The sickness experienced by the workers might be due to the protective suits that they are wearing, Gomez said, adding that the discomfort caused by the suits, which are uncomfortably hot, could become unbearable...

In the first known case of what may be transmission of the Ebola virus from a pig to a human, a pig handler in the Philippines has tested positive for a strain of the virus, world health officials and the Philippine government announced Friday. But the strain — Ebola Reston — is not known to be dangerous to humans, and the worker, who was infected at least six months ago, is healthy, officials said. The development is worrying because pigs are mixing vessels in which other viruses from humans and animals exchange genetic material, possibly creating strains that are more...

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,...

When the Ebola Reston virus was discovered in pigs in the Philippines last year, it marked the virus's first known foray outside primates, and raised fears of a potential threat to human health.Is an Ebola-virus subtype killing pigs?REUTERS Last week, a joint mission of 22 international health and veterinary experts returned from investigating the outbreak with more questions than answers about the virus's pathology and epidemiology.The Ebola Reston virus was first discovered, in 1989, in crab-eating macaques imported to the United States from the Philippines. Since then, the virus has killed most infected monkeys, yet had no effect on the...

Philippine officials tucked into servings of lechon, the popular dish of roasted whole pig, in front of television cameras on Thursday to reassure the public of the safety of the national staple meat after the discovery among hogs near Manila of a strain of the Ebola virus. Arthur Yap, agriculture secretary, and Francisco Duque, health secretary, said the Ebola Reston virus, which had never been found in pigs before, presented a low health risk for humans and was different from the deadly African variety. The World Health Organisation was reported to be looking into whether there was any chance humans...