A form of Ebola virus has been detected in pigs for the first time,
raising concerns that pigs might provide a melting pot where the virus
could mutate and pose a new risk to humans. Ebola-Reston virus (REBOV)
has only previously been seen in monkeys and humans - and has not
caused illness.
.
The virus was discovered among pigs in the
Philippines. The discovery was a surprise to researchers found in
tissue samples were taken to identify the source of unusually severe
respiratory infections which were plaguing swine across the country.
Until this finding, the Ebola-Reston (REBOV) virus had been limited to
humans and other primates.
Most threatening, however, the Ebola was also detected in farm workers who tend to the infected pigs.So far the virus appears to pose no risk to humans, and none of the infected farm workers have shown signs of illness.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stress that this current strain of the virus is not of the same variety as the one which caused outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever in the early 90's, and at present there is no serious cause for concern
The discovery is reminiscent of The Hot Zone, a terrifying true story that was a best-1994 non-fiction bio-thriller by Richard Preston about the origins of incidents involving hemorrhagic fevers and both the Ebola and Marburg viruses.
The filoviruses Ebola and Marburg are both Biosafety Level 4 agents (because they are extremely lethal to humans and very infectious), that are often found in central Africa.
The “Hot Zone” opens “The Shadow of Mount Elgon”, a stark, lone peak in central Africa where Pr “Charles Monet” (a pseudonym), catches the Marburg virus from a cave nearby his home. Preston describes in great detail the progress of the disease, from the initial headache and backache, to the final stage in which Monet’s internal organs fail and he “bleeds out” (hemorrhages extensively) in a waiting room in a Nairobi hospital. The dreaded ebola soon spreads to the USA via a Reston, Virginia, company called Hazelton Research that buys an infected Nairobi monkey for import.
Posted by Casey Kazan.
Image Credit: randwick.ses.nsw.gov.au/gallery/album50/DSC00695
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