BABE YOU’RE IN TROUBLE

Balboa, Philip Teodor A. ; Lavilla, Mark Lester B.

Pollard, Frederick D.
Section S16
hahaha@greenarcher.net ; imlezter@yahoo.com.ph
fredpollard18@yahoo.com
De La Salle University Manila, Philippines
ABSTRACT 2. ORIGIN AND DISCOVERY

A lot has been lost to our food and beverage as well as 2.1 EBOLA VIRUS
the trading industries of our country when viruses and
outbreaks hit our farms and live stocks. Our major
export countries like China prohibit products coming
from our country because of the danger and the scare
brought by these viruses that could cause harm to their
health. Millions of pesos are lost from our farmers as
well as from our country each time these outbreaks
occur. These could be solved however, with emerging
technologies that ensure the safety of the products
starting from the farms up until to your forks as well as
new and more effective medicines that help prevent the
spread of these viruses like Ebola-Reston and Cholera.

1. INTRODUCTION

Ebola-Reston Virus also known as Asian Filovirus are

known to originate from our country Philippines and
has not been seen yet from any other countries, it was
first discovered from crab-eating macaques which is a
family of monkeys but in December of 2008, cases of
Pigs from farms are said to have been infected by the Figure 1. Cases and Deaths from Ebola-Zaire Virus
Ebola-Reston Virus especially in the Southern part of from the year 1976 to 2003
the Philippines.
The Department of Health (DOH) and other
government agencies such as the Department of
Agriculture (DA) and Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) took immediate action as soon as
the reports of farm owners were made.
Around six thousand five hundred pigs were
slaughtered to prevent the spreading of the virus and
this was officiated by the World Health Organization,
Department of Health, the local government of the
cities, and Dept. of Agriculture.
The depopulation was done in a humane
manner following international procedures in dealing
with this kind of incidents. Although Ebola-Reston
Virus is non-pathogenic to humans, it would still be
advisable to eat pork that you are one hundred percent
sure virus free.
Figure 2. Cases and Deaths from Ebola-Sudan Virus
from the year 1976 to 2003
The Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 as it
emerged in the country of Zaire and Sudan wherein
there was an Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak. The
strain that broke out in Zaire is considered as one of the
highest case of fatality rate, roughly about 90% while
the one that broke out in Sudan has a fatality rate of
about 50%. It is believed that the virus was transferred
to humans via contact with an infected animal or host
and then transmitted to other people who came in
contact with the infected person’s blood, bodily fluids
and by human contact with contaminated medical
equipments. Because of its high fatality rate, the
rapidity of demise, and the often remote areas where
infections occur, the potential for widespread cube
epidemic outbreaks is considered low.
Given the lethal nature of Ebola and also
because of the reason that up to this point in time there
is no approved treatment or vaccine available, it is
considered as a biosafety level 4 agent wherein it is
described as the highest level of containment. Because
of those traits, it has a potential to be used as a
biological warfare.
2.2 EBOLA RESTON VIRUS
Reston Ebola Virus is considered as a subtype of Ebola
Virus along with Zaire Virus, Sudan Ebola Virus,
Bundibugyo Ebola Virus and Ivory Coast Ebola Virus.
It is also referred to as Asian Filovirus, Reston Virus or
Ebola Reston. Ebola Reston was discovered in the year
1989 in crab-eating macaques imported from the
Philippines to Hazleton Laboratories in Reston,
Virginia by an electron microscopist while investigating
on the Simian hemorrhagic fever (SHFV) outbreak. The
filovirus was then further isolated by Dr. Peter B.
Jahrling because of its similarities to the lethal Ebola
Virus
During the year of 1990, one animal handler
accidentally cut himself while performing necropsy on
a dead infected monkey. The handler was then placed
under surveillance the order of Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) for the whole duration
of the incubation period. The animal handler failed to
become ill, thus, it was concluded that the virus has a
low pathogenicity to humans.
3. ISSUES
3.1 PREVIOUS ISSUE
During the late 1980’s to 1990’s, Reston Ebola
Virus was only known to those crab-eating macaques
which originally came from the Ferlite Farms located in
Mindanao. During those times, the Philippine
government was prompted to investigate if the workers
of the said primate facilities were at risk for contracting
the Ebola Reston Virus. The investigative team studied
186 people, 48 of whom were from wildlife collection
areas and the remaining 138 were from the four primate
export facilities in the area (Ferlite Farms being one of
the four). Twelve of the 186 people tested had
serological evidence of infection with Ebola Reston
Virus. 22% of the workers at Ferlite Farms had positive
IFAT (indirect fluorescent antibody test) titers, which
was significantly higher than at the other three export
facilities. Of the five employees in Ferlite's animal
hospital, four had positive IFATs. Workers in the
hospital had more positive titers than the rest of the
workers at Ferlite Farms. All of the monkeys at Ferlite
were killed after this outbreak of Ebola Reston Virus in
1989.
3.2 LATEST ISSUE
The latest outbreak of Ebola Reston Virus last October
of 2008 was not for the monkeys this time, rather, it is
found on pigs. It is the first time for the virus to be
found on different species. The outbreak happened on a
hog farms located at Santo Niño and Pinagpanaan
villages and since then, the Philippine government then
and there halted pork exports when the virus was first
detected.
As of the current date, 3 experts from the
United Nations came to the Philippines to investigate
the outbreak that happened in those farms north of
Manila. The UN team was set to work with its Filipino
counterparts over 10 days to establish "the source of the
virus, its transmission, its virulence and its natural
habitat, in order to provide appropriate guidance for
animal and human health protection. The fact that it is
the first time that it was found on another species and
that it has been found in a food producing animal makes
the mission particularly important
4. PREVENTION
4.1 EBOLA PREVENTION
Doctors and scientists all over the country are
conducting Ebola research. Ebola research studies are
designed to answer important questions and to find out
whether or not new approaches are safe and effective.
Ebola research already has led to many advances, and
researchers continue to search for more effective
methods for dealing with Ebola.
 Ebola research scientists are currently studying
additional diagnostic tools to assist in early diagnosis of
Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
Ebola research scientists are also conducting
ecological investigations of Ebola virus, and its possible
reservoir. More extensive knowledge of the natural
reservoir (habitat) of Ebola virus, and how the virus is
spread, must be acquired to prevent future outbreaks
effectively.
Other Ebola research scientists are monitoring
suspected areas to determine how common Ebola
outbrakes are.
Finally, Ebola research scientists are actively
studying an experimental Ebola vaccine that has shown
promise in previous monkey studies. In 2003, an Ebola
research study began that is evaluating the safety of this
experimental Ebola vaccine in humans. The trial Ebola
vaccine, a type called a DNA vaccine, is similar to
other investigational vaccines that hold promise for
controlling such diseases as AIDS, influenza, malaria
and hepatitis.
4.2 EBOLA RESTON PREVENTION
(PHILIPPINE SETTING)
The Philippine Department of Health has said that the
people who tested positive appear to be in good health
and have not suffered from any significant illnesses in
the past 12 months. The investigation team reported
that it was possible that all 5 individuals had been
exposed to the virus as a result of direct contact with
sick pigs. The use of personal protective equipment
(PPE) is not common practice among these animal
handlers.
From these observations and previous studies
of ERV, the virus has shown it can be transmitted to
humans, without resulting in illness. However, the
evidence available relates only to healthy adults and it
would be premature to conclude the health effects of
the virus on all population groups. The threat to human
health is likely to be low for healthy adults but is
unknown for all other population groups, such as
immuno-compromised persons, persons with
underlying medical conditions, pregnant women and
children.
The Philippine Government is conducting
contact tracing in relation to the five individuals who
tested positive for antibodies. In addition, testing is
ongoing for other persons who could have come into
contact with sick pigs on the two quarantined farms in
the provinces of Bulacan and Pangasinan where pigs
co-infected with the Porcine Respiratory and
Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) and ERV were
reported in 2008. The two farms remain under
quarantine and the Philippine Government is
maintaining its voluntary hold of exports of live pigs
and fresh and frozen pork meat.
The Philippine Government has announced a
combined Department of Health and Department of
Agriculture strategy to limit the animal and human
health risks of the Ebola Reston Virus and emphasized
that local governments, the pig farming industry and the
public will play a critical role in the strategy.
5. CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
As of the present time there is still no known cure for
the Ebola virus and its three sub viruses. Our current
crisis here in the Philippines, the ebola reston has yet to
claim lives since all those who have been infected by it
are in perfect health since the last 6 to 12 months. This
sub type of the ebola virus is not lethal to humans
unlike to animals, but the real issue here is that there is
still a possibility that the virus can mutate and could be
fatal to humans. The best thing we and our government
can do is to monitor all our pig products, quarantine the
infected and research for a permanent cure. We should
also try to avoid eating pork products just to be on the
safe side.
There are really limited but easy ways for
people to prevent from acquiring the Ebola-Reston
virus, we recommend that people should not be in direct
contact from the sick pigs because this is the easiest
way to pass on the disease.
Preparing meals should be done in a clean
environment and make sure that meat should be cooked
fully without leaving any red meat or blood to kill all
the viruses or bacteria, as for the producers of meat
products, they should make sure that they use newest
technology in meat processing and handling for
hygienic purposes.
The use of Smart Tags/Labels could also be a
new technology to help the consumers determine if the
meat that they’re buying is virus free just by looking at
the label. It works by changing the color of the label to
indicate the state of the product, it senses the meat
quality by checking the bacteria count and if it reaches
critical level, the label would turn grey indicating that it
is contaminated and orange if it is fresh.
As of this moment, there are no vaccines yet
for the Ebola-Reston virus and discovering a vaccine
for Ebola-Reston virus would be the greatest solution
for this
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