Authorities have called on animal lovers to refrain from keeping monkeys as pets even as they assured the public that the Ebola Reston Virus strain found in some monkeys in the country does not have any harmful effect on humans.
“Do not keep monkeys as pets, do not take them away from their natural habitat. Those who keep them as pets, be extra careful,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Jose Reaño in a joint press briefing of the Department of Agriculture and Department of Health, on Thursday.
He added that the animals’ natural habitat should be respected, citing illegal hunting and deforestation as among the reasons for humans’ unnecessary interaction with the monkeys.
Health Secretary Janette Garin, meanwhile, allayed fears caused by the reported Ebola Reston Virus strain found in some monkeys in the country as she stressed that the strain does has not shown any harmful effects on humans.
“This kind of Ebola is the least harmful in terms of human affectation. This is limited to monkeys,” she said, citing the difference of the Ebola strain found in Philippine monkeys and the strain that killed thousands of people in Africa.
“The effect of that Ebola Zaire in animals is not fatal, halos wala, pero fatal siya sa tao (almost no effect, but it is fatal to humans). That’s the one in Africa. Pero dito naman sa atin, baliktad. Masama siya para sa hayop, pero hindi siya ganun kasama [sa tao], almost wala siyang sama na idinudulot sa tao (But in the Philippines, the reverse is true. It’s bad to the animal but not as bad to humans, almost no effect to humans) ,” Garin said.
“The situation has been contained. The possible source has also been traced,” she said.
“Kung saka-sakaling pumasok sa tao (If it gets into a human), it does not have any illness. Walang mararamdaman (There’s no effect)… Yung ebola reston [ay] nasa monkeys, hindi po siya nakakabigay ng sakit sa tao. Eto po yung pinakamabait na ebola sa tao (The ebola reston in monkeys does not cause any illness in humans. This is the most benign ebola to humans),” she added.
Garin said that sometime in the middle of August, at least 10 macaques in one undisclosed breeding facility started dying one by one.
“Since the samples from the dead monkeys were no longer fresh, the DOH decided to test the surviving monkeys. Fourteen of the monkeys in the facility tested positive for the screening test while 10 were positive for the confirmatory test,” Garin said, adding that one of the monkeys positive for Ebola Reston also died.
“The remaining nine monkeys (positive for Ebola Reston) are recovering and we are taking care of them,” she added.
The source of the infection was traced to two facilities, one with a population of 3,000 monkeys and the other 4,000 monkeys.
“The good news is that all the human handlers and personnel exposed to the monkeys were negative for Ebola Reston,” she said.
She added that tests from Australia and Japan also confirmed that the virus found in the Philippines was Ebola Reston, which could be lethal to animals but has had no effect on humans.
She said the local Ebola strain might have come from the monkey’s interaction with bats, as she noted the importance of protecting the natural habitats of the animals.
“Dapat ‘yung kanilang natural habitat hindi galawin. Kung kunyari maglalagay ka ng subdivision, you have to understand the dangers na kung galawin mo at umalis sila diyan, at kung saan sila pumunta, baka merong pagbabago na pwedeng magdulot ng sakit (Their natural habitat should not be touched. If you will build a subdivision in their habitat, you have to understand the dangers that when they leave the place and go somewhere else, they may bring something that could cause illness),” Garin said.
Reano said the transport or movement of monkeys in the country has been restricted for now.
Authorities are also doing a surveillance of the places surrounding the facilities to see if other animals are positive for the Ebola Reston virus. Tina G. Santos, SFM