VIDEO | Workers Cleared in Ebola Reston Case as Monkeys’ Blood Samples Undergo Testing
By: Renz Ongkiko, News5
September 6, 2015 6:12 PM
MANILA – All the employees of the monkey holding facility where the Ebola Reston Virus (ERV) was detected in one of the animals have tested negative for ERV, even as authorities reiterated earlier assurances that unlike the strains that flared in Africa in past months, the Ebola Reston does not jump to humans.
Meanwhile, blood samples of the monkeys in the facility – which supplies monkeys for testing to pharmaceutical firms – have been sent to Japan and Australia for testing, and results are expected by Thursday (Sept. 10). The facility has been placed under quarantine.
Health officials are still checking how the monkey – a macaque that is indigenous to the Philippines – got infected.
On Saturday, Department of Health officials led by Secretary Janette Garin called a press conference to confirm the infection. They took pains to explain that the Ebola Reston – unlike the one ravaging pockets of population in some parts of Africa – has been reported deadly only to animals.
According to information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Atlanta, Georgia, Ebola-Reston virus “was discovered in 1989 as the cause of an outbreak of severe illness and death among non-human primates imported from the Philippines to a quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia.
While ERV does not cause any illness in humans, Secretary Garin said Saturday, “DOH will continue to monitor the health status of the staff currently employed in the facility.”
Garin said ERV can be transmitted to humans but without resulting in illness. “The threat to human health is likely to be low, or none, for healthy adults.”
According to Bureau of Animal Industry Director Dr. Rubina Cresencio, authorities are now investigating how the monkeys got infected.