Number of workers exposed to Ebola Reston virus now at 6

MANILA, Philippines - The government on Monday announced the sixth person believed to have been exposed to the Ebola Reston virus (ERV) in the affected pig farms and slaughterhouses in Central Luzon. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told reporters in Quezon City that the latest person found to have traces of ERV anti-bodies was a slaughterhouse worker in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. Five farm workers from Bulacan and Pangasinan were announced to have contracted the virus last month. Duque however assured that all six individuals are currently in good health condition. “The additional positive human sample was traced to a male and was not sick during visits by the investigation team. He does not recall any direct contact with sick pigs but remembers having flu-like sickness in the past twelve months,” Duque said. The Health secretary added that there were no evidence attributing the man’s past sickness to an ERV infection. The latest announcement came after the completion of the laboratory testing carried out by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the United States Center for Disease Control (US-CDC) among 147 blood samples from workers in the affected areas. The 24 other workers tested in the affected slaughterhouse were all found negative for ERV infection. “To date, all close contacts of humans with positive anti-bodies who were tested remained anti-body-free signifying absence of illness in affected humans that can lead to possible human-to-human transmission,” Duque said. Duque's announcement came as Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap ordered the killing of 6,000 pigs in the affected Bulacan farm in Pandi town after animal experts found an “on-going viral transmission” there. Aside from the Bulacan farm, 27 pigs from another affected farm in Pangasinan were also subjected under testing but were found negative for ERV, prompting the government to lift the quarantine hoisted over the facility. During depopulation, the pigs would be restricted inside the farm, incapacitated, before being burned and buried. The Agriculture department assured that depopulation – only meant as a precautionary measure to prevent further spreading – would be conducted in a “humane” manner. Until the depopulation, farm workers would still be allowed to go on with their regular pig-raising routines so long as they use Proper Protective Equipment (PPE) like gloves, masks, boots, and aprons. The Ebola Reston virus was first discovered in northern Philippines while health authorities were conducting tests on pigs. After the discovery, the DOH and DA placed under quarantine some 10,000 pigs in two farms in Bulacan and Pangasinan provinces. The discovery marked the first time that the virus was found in swine and outside of its usual hosts, monkeys. While studies have so far shown that Ebola Reston virus does not trigger illness among humans, the three other subtypes of the virus do. During Monday’s joint press briefing, Duque said the ERV remains a low risk to human health at this time. He added that ERV remains the only strain not to cause significant illness to humans. - GMANews.TV