Epidemiology of Ebola (Subtype Reston) Virus in the Philippines, 1996

Abstract

Ebola (subtype Reston [EBO-R]) virus infection was detected in macaques imported into the United States from the Philippines in March 1996. Studies were initiated in the Philippines to identify the source of the virus among monkey-breeding and export facilities, to establish surveillance and testing, and to assess the risk and significance of EBO-R infections in humans who work in these facilities. Over a 5-month period, acutely infected animals were found at only one facility, as determined using Ebola antigen detection. Three of 1732 monkeys and 1 of 246 animal handlers tested had detectable antibodies; all were from the same facility, which was the source of infected monkeys imported to the United States. Virus transmission, which was facilitated by poor infection-control practices, continued for several months in one facility and was stopped only when the facility was depopulated. None of the 246 employees of the facilities or 4 contacts of previously antibody-positive individuals reported an Ebola-like illness. This investigation suggests that human EBO-R infection is rare.

Detection of Ebola Viral Antigen by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Using a Novel Monoclonal Antibody to Nucleoprotein

“…Tissues and sera from cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) naturally infected with Ebola virus subtype Reston in the Philippines were used as clinical specimens. These specimens had been kept either at Ϫ80°C or in liquid nitrogen since an outbreak in 1996 (12). The status of infection with subtype Reston in these animals was established previously (12).…”

“…These specimens had been kept either at Ϫ80°C or in liquid nitrogen since an outbreak in 1996 (12). The status of infection with subtype Reston in these animals was established previously (12). Liver and spleen tissues (approximately 10% [wt/vol]) were homogenized in 0.05% Tween 20, 1% Triton X-100, and 5% nonfat milk in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).…”

Status and challenges of filovirus vaccines

“…Aerosol is not thought to be the ordinary route of transmission in natural outbreaks; however, there have been reports of naive NHP infected across the room from experimentally infected NHP and human cases in which direct contact with infected patients could not be demonstrated, suggesting aerosol transmission [60,67,68]. Experimental studies have shown that filoviruses are relatively stable in aerosol, can survive on surfaces for prolonged periods of time, and are able to infect susceptible naive animals and cause lethal disease when inhaled [40][41][42][43][44]61,69,70].…”

Structure of theReston ebolavirusVP30 C-terminal domain

“…However, Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) is uniquely Asian in origin. RESTV has been identified in bats and primates (Miranda et al, 1999;Rollin et al, 1999;Taniguchi et al, 2011), as well as swine (Barrette et al, 2009;Sayama et al, 2012). However, in humans RESTV appears to be nonpathogenic and transmits poorly for reasons that are not fully understood (Miranda et al, 1999).…”