Danger to humans seen in discovery of Ebola virus in pigs
The discovery of the Ebola-Reston virus in pigs in the Philippines, following sporadic fatal outbreaks of the disease in humans nearly two decades ago that were spurred by infected Filipino monkeys, has raised concerns in the scientific community.
Filipino officials have culled thousands of the animals. The Reston virus, or REBOV, had been the only member of the Ebola family not associated with disease in humans, the journal Science reported.
“Its emergence in the human food chain is of concern,” the magazine said. “REBOV infection in domestic swine raises concern about the potential for emerging disease in humans and a wider range of livestock.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the virus is not connected with the current outbreak of swine flu.
Officials in the Philippines said as many as six workers on pig farms may have been infected by coming into contact with pigs. None of the workers has shown signs of illness, and there have been no fatalities.
No case has been confirmed of the virus being transmitted through ingestion of an infected animal.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is very dangerous, characterized by uncontrollable bleeding and coagulation that can lead to a horrible death, DBTechno.com reports.
ECOWORLDLY.COM: Ebola virus found in pigs, infects farm workers
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That’s it. I’m not eating any more pigs that are bleeding from the eyes.
scritch: do those come in the packages you get.
Interesting that the article first says that this is different from Ebola in humans and then goes on to talk about how awful Ebola is. It’s also different from rabies and botulism, but those are awful diseases, too. So whoopdidoo. This is the reason that scientists get so frustrated with the ignorance shown by reporters in their articles.
aggie: Ebola Reston is very closely related to Ebola Zaire and Marburg, diseases that kill 90% of humans infected.
Ebola Reston is AIRBORNE.
Ebola Reston in pigs might very well geneswap with influenza.
You were saying what again about ignorance?
No, the story says that up to now this version of ebola hadn’t been found in humans, although it had been found in non-human primates, now it has. No confirmed fatalities yet. But there have been sporadic outbreaks of ebola in remote areas with fatalities. the scientists wonder if ebola R could have been involved. To assume that although it has spread to humans but will not kill them is a very dangerous assumption.