Does importing primates push Ebola risk too high?
April 16, 1996 Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EDT From Correspondent Jeff Levine WASHINGTON (CNN) — Army scientists near Washington are studying blood samples from monkeys thought to carry the Ebola virus. If the tests are positive, it will mean the worst for the primates, now being housed at a Texas facility. “Basically, the animals are doomed. At this point, it’s reasonable to assume all the animals have been exposed,” said Dr. Peter Jahrling of the U.S. Army. The animals, imported from the Philippines, are infected with a strain of the Ebola virus known as Ebola Reston. Current evidence indicates that humans can’t be sickened by Ebola Reston. During a 1989 outbreak of the strain at a primate facility in Reston, Virginia, four people were exposed, but didn’t get sick. As in Texas, the monkeys in the Virginia outbreak all came from the same exporter. Scientists say Ebola Reston is transmitted through the air. The deadly Ebola Zaire, on the other hand, is spread through blood and other bod
