Govt seeks international assistance on Ebola virus

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Philippines has asked the assistance of three international agencies after health officials earlier detected the Reston Ebola virus from a number of hogs in Bula­can, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan. In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said they would dispatch teams to the Philippines to examine the Reston Ebola outbreak. It follows a formal invitation by the government in Manila. “Since being informed of this event in late November, FAO, OIE and WHO have been making every effort to gain a better understanding of the situation and are working closely with the Philippine government and local animal and human health experts,” the WHO said. The international team is set to arrive in January but details of the mission are still being finalized, said Julie Hall, a spokeswoman for the WHO’s regional office in Manila. The agencies said they would be looking for “the source of the virus, its transmission, its virulence and its natural habitat.” The work would help in providing “appropriate guidance for animal and human health protection,” the statement added. Signs of infections in pigs were already seen as early as last year but officials delayed the announcement of the discovery, saying they had to confirm first if the virus can infect humans as well. According to a WHO-Western Paci­fic Regional Office (WPRO) report, pig mortality increased on swine farms in Nueva Ecija in 2007 and in Bulacan in 2008. This prompted initial laboratory investigations. International laboratories that received samples taken from ill pigs later confirmed the existence of a highly virulent strain of Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome as well as the Ebola Reston virus. The Department of Agriculture was informed in late October that the Ebola Reston virus had been detected in six of the 28 pig tissue samples. The department already imposed a quarantine on the farms and halted pork exports since the virus was first detected in October. The WHO-WPRO, meanwhile, said this is the first time globally that an Ebola-Reston virus has been isolated in swine. However, this is not the first time that the Ebola Reston virus has been found in the country. The virus was detected in local monkeys in outbreaks that occurred in the years 1989, 1990, 1992, and 1996. The Ebola virus has five distinct species: Zaire, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Bundibugyo and Reston. The African strains are said to be deadly. Reston species, which were the one detected in local pigs, can infect humans but no serious illness or death in humans have been reported to date, the WHO said. Initial laboratory tests on animal handlers and slaughterhouse workers who were initially thought to have come into contact with infected pigs were negative for Ebola Reston infection. According to the WHO, Ebola viruses are normally transmitted via contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected animal or person.