Philippines to Slaughter 6,000 Ebola Reston Affected Pigs

The Philippine government will slaughter 6,000 pigs on a farm near Manila where the Ebola-Reston virus has been found in the animals and its antibodies in humans, health officials said Friday.

The Philippine government will slaughter 6,000 pigs on a farm near Manila where the Ebola-Reston virus has been found in the animals and its antibodies in humans, health officials said.

The cull is expected to start on a farm in Bulacan province where the non-lethal virus was found last year.

Ebola-Reston Virus Isolated In Swine In Philippines
The Ebola-Reston virus has been detected in pigs for the first time in the world, in the Philippines, the UN food agency said Tuesday.

Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Centre, said the cull could take up to seven days to complete.

"It is better to depopulate this (farm) so there will be no fear it will spread," Tayag told reporters.

"The pigs will be humanely electrocuted, their remains burnt and then buried on the farm," he added.

Philippines Pig Farmer Infected With Ebola Virus
A Philippine pig farm worker has tested positive for the Ebola-Reston virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque and the WHO said Friday.

According to the World Health Organisation, the strain infecting the pigs is not dangerous to humans, unlike the four deadly Ebola subtypes found in Africa.

The government earlier imposed a quarantine on two farms in Bulacan and Pangasinan provinces after samples found some pigs were carrying the Ebola-Reston strain.

Agriculture Chief Finds Ebola Virus Strain in Philippine Swine
Manila's top agriculture official identified a strain of the Ebola virus in pigs at a farm north of the Philippine capital Manila.

The strain was first found in laboratory monkeys exported from the Philippines to the US in 1989.

So far, six farmworkers and butchers have been found with the antibodies.

Pig-to-human Transmission of Ebola Virus Cannot Be Ruled Out: WHO
The Philippine government and WHO Friday refused to rule out the possibility that five men may have contracted a non-lethal strain of the Ebola virus from infected pigs.

Scientists are still trying to determine if the six caught the virus from pigs.

If such a link is proved it would be the first time humans have contracted the disease from pigs.

Source-AFP
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