Pigs susceptible to virulent ebolavirus can transmit the virus to other animals

Canadian investigators have shown that a species of ebolavirus from Zaire that is highly virulent in humans can replicate in pigs, cause disease, and be transmitted to animals previously unexposed to the virus. The findings are published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and are now available online. In order to prevent human outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, it is important to identify animal species that replicate and transmit the virus to other animals and, potentially, people. Zaire ebolavirus, one of several species of the virus, has a fatality rate as high as 90 percent in humans. Antibodies to another species not associated with human disease, known as Reston ebolavirus, have been found in pig farmers in the Philippines, suggesting pigs may be able to transmit virulent ebolavirus to humans as well.

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