CDC Researchers Identify Reston Ebolavirus in Pigs

Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reportedly identified a strain of Reston ebolavirus (REBOV) in pigs for the first time, raising questions about the ability of the virus to mutate and cause illness in humans. First reported in the July 3, 2009, issue of Science, the results apparently showed that various REBOV strains have been circulating in the pig population of the Philippines, suggesting that swine there could have harbored REBOV before 1989, when the disease was discovered in a monkey exported to Reston, Virginia. REBOV can be transmitted to humans, but does not cause them to contract illnesses such as the Ebola hemorrhagic fever often associated with this family of viruses. “REBOV infection in domestic swine raises concern about the potential for emerging disease in humans and a wider range of livestock,” stated the researchers in Science. “There is a concern that its passage through swine may allow REBOV to diverge and shift its potential for pathogenicity.” See MSNBC.com, July 9, 2009; BBC News, July 10, 2009.