Ebola Reston Virus found in monkey breeding facility

MANILA, Philippines - Some monkeys in an undisclosed research and breeding facility tested positive for the Ebola Reston Virus (ERV), the Department of Health (DOH) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) reported yesterday.

In a joint press conference with BAI director Rubina Cresencio, Health Secretary Janette Garin stressed the ERV is not a threat to humans, adding that it is different from the Ebola virus that downed 28,109 people, including 11,305 in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone as of Aug. 30.

“There are many types of Ebola. There are Ebola that affects animals but not humans… This is the kindest Ebola to humans,” Garin said.

She said the ERV could be transmitted to humans without resulting in illness. She said the threat is low or none for healthy individuals.

No human has been documented to fall ill due to ERV. An infected human, however, can serve as a “vector” that can spread the virus from one monkey to another.

Garin said blood samples from 25 workers at the facility examined at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine using enzyme immunosorbent assay tested negative for ERV.

Despite the negative results, she said the DOH would monitor the workers.

The facility reported some “unusual incidents” in the area last week, prompting the BAI to put it on quarantine and prevent movement in the area.

“We are investigating how the monkeys got infected…we are looking at the roles of bats. This is something that we have been studying,” Garin said.

The results of the test, which may come out next week, will be forwarded to a laboratory in Japan for confirmation.

“Ebola Reston originated in the Philippines. It is here, hiding. What we want to know now is what caused the change,” she said.

Cresencio advised the public to avoid any contact with monkeys, even as she noted that ERV is not fatal to them.

Garin said some monkeys contracted measles from the employees of the facility, which could have “pulled down their resistance.”

It is not yet known if the infected monkeys will be eliminated.

Garin said ERV is not new to the country.

The first reported Ebola-infected monkeys from the Philippines were found at a research laboratory in Reston, Virginia, where dozens of them died in 1989.