Ebola Reston Discovered In Philippine Pig Populations - Science/Mongabay

[hatrack]

A variant of the deadly Ebola virus has turned up in pigs in the Philippines, report researchers writing in the journal Science.

Roger W. Barrette and colleagues documented Reston ebolavirus ("REBOV"), a virus previously known to infect monkeys and humans, among domestic pigs "experiencing unusually severe outbreaks of porcine reproductive and respiratory disease" in the Philippines.

The authors warn that while there are no signs the virus spread between pigs and farm workers, the emergence of Reston ebolavirus in the human food chain "is of concern." They authors suggest that "it is hypothetically possible that the virus could mutate in pigs and become more dangerous for humans."

REBOV virus was first identified in 1989 in the United States from a shipment of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) from the Philippines. Outbreaks of disease, which manifested as a high contagious hemorrhagic fever, occurred in the United States in 1990 and 1996 and in Italy in 1992. The outbreaks were traced back to a facility in the Philippines.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0709-ebola.html

[kestrel91316]

1. For those who don't remember, Ebola Reston was spread through the AIR.

The only thing that saved humanity's collective ass back then was that it was not infectious in humans. Pigs could change that. They are good at transforming viruses into those that infect humans easily.

[lapfog_1]

3. Right, I forgot that.

As I recall, they had some infected Crab-eating Macaque monkeys in a lab in Reston, VA, and it spread to infect the entire population. Not knowing what they were dealing with, I believe the lab was declared a bio-hazard zone and the lab was destroyed. Of course, humans aren't really all that smart in that we built a child care center at the same location.

(edit to get the species correct)

[GliderGuider]

4. That was my first thought: "Ebola Reston in pigs??? Oh, shit!"

That's got all the makings of a movie starring Rene Russo and Dusty Hoffman...
:scared:

[lapfog_1]

2. Much more dangerous than H1N1

would be an Ebola virus that spreads from species to species (i.e. from pigs to humans) or an Ebola mutation that spreads in the air. Another mutation to watch out for is one that causes the virus to not multiply quite so rapidly, giving time for infected carriers to spread the virus before it makes them sick (or dead).

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. There was a biohazard level 5 facility in Reston, Va that got shut down because of a breech.

Any connections?

[Kceres]

6. For anyone wanting more background on this...

Read Richard Preston's Hot Zone. Fascinating and scary stuff.