Pigs infected with Ebola

2008-12-11 12:04

Manila - Pigs in three Philippine hog farms have been found infected with the Ebola Reston virus, a strain not harmful to humans, officials said on Thursday.

The affected farms in three northern Philippine provinces have been quarantined and farm and slaughterhouse workers who might have been exposed all tested negative for Ebola Reston, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said in a statement.

As a precaution, he said all pork exports have been suspended until further notice.

"We advise the public that it is safe to eat pork provided that the pork was properly handled and thoroughly cooked," Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.

Lyndon Lee-Suy, a health department disease control manager, said in a telephone interview that studies show the virus is a "low level" pathogen.

"Humans can get the virus, but it does not cause illness," she said.

The government has notified the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and other international bodies about the virus, Yap added.

Animal authorities and local government units have been ordered to continually test pigs in their localities, and to quarantine all farms found with the virus, he said. Infected pigs are to be destroyed.

The Ebola Reston virus was discovered in 1989 in monkeys called crab-eating macaques that Hazleton Laboratories in Reston, Virginia had imported from a Philippine farm.

- AP