Hopefully it should infect pig-eaters and lovers first. Unfortunately,
as in the case of the Nipah Virus, many Muslims will become infected
It should teach Muslims not to get near pig farms or even Markets.
Unfortunately again, these pig meat markets are located near normal
meat that unscrupulous Pig sellers sell pork to even Muslims who wear
Haji Kopiahs. As it turned out, these are Muslims from the rural areas
who rarely go to towns in order to buy meat that they cannot tell
which market sells beef or pork. As a result, many other innocent
Muslims had to consume pork in a religious ceremony.
It should be made illegal for non-Muslims to sell pork to Muslims just
as it is already forbidden to sell Alcohol to Muslims, and pork
markets should not be near any fish or beef market.
Expert: Virus in Filipino pigs may pose human risk
The Associated Press
Published: January 7, 2009
Listen to Article
MANILA, Philippines: Animal and health experts said Wednesday they
were conducting an investigation in the Philippines to determine
whether the Ebola Reston virus recently discovered in pigs poses a
threat to human health.
About a dozen experts from the U.N., the World Health Organization and
the World Organization for Animal Health were invited to Manila to
help the government investigate the virus, first identified in October
in the northern Philippines.
The discovery not only marked the first time the virus has been found
outside of monkeys, but also the first time it has been found in
swine, a food-producing animal.
Those factors make the mission "particularly important," said a joint
statement by the investigating organizations.
"We hope to identify the risks certainly for animal health and human
health, if there are any," said Dr. Juan Lubroth of the U.N.'s Food
and Agriculture Organization and head of the Manila mission.
Today in Asia & Pacific
Indian dossier gives new details of Mumbai attacks
Ex-Guantánamo detainee describes torture
Japanese whalers and their foes resume their battle
Authorities say the Ebola Reston virus — first discovered among crab-
eating monkeys south of Manila in 1989 — has caused no known illness
Ebola's three other subtypes — the Zaire, Sudan and Cote d'Ivoire
strains — can cause deadly hemorrhagic fever in humans, according to
The 10-day research mission, which started Tuesday, will focus on the
source of the virus, how it is transmitted, its virulence, its natural
habitat, and the best way to identify it, the experts said.
The Ebola Reston virus was discovered in October while tests were
being conducted on samples from pigs that had died of another swine
disease at two farms in the northern Philippines.
Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the two farms in
northern Bulacan and Pangasinan provinces, which have nearly 10,000
pigs, are under quarantine.
Tests in late December on pig samples from the farms were negative for
the virus, and no pigs have died of the disease or shown any signs of
illness, he said. Bureau of Animal Industry Director Davinio Catbagan
said the foreign team would verify the results with the slaughter of
about 140 pigs.
"If we do not see the virus on these tissue samples, we can decide to
lift the quarantine, and later on (proceed) to a wider surveillance,"