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Good article about the Congo outbreak and search for patient 0. Thanks for posting, was reading along when suddenly it says

Quote :All the pigs died'

and later it states "Kebela said it was the third time, after 2007 and 2012, that widespread pig deaths had preceded Ebola outbreaks in humans in the DR Congo"

The World Animal Health Organisation said its vets in Africa are closely monitoring livestock and pets but that for now the role of the pig in the Ebola epidemic remains uncertain.

There are suspicions, but no one has proved the transmission of pig to human, Kebela said.

As I said really interesting article. Transmission of Zaire between pigs was demonstrated experimentally, as was transmission from pigs to cynomolgus macaques without direct contact. Unlike dogs who have asymptomatic infections, pigs do get sick with severe acute respiratory distress which is often lethal.


Additionally they seem to concentrate and aerosol it, while humans can't. Wonder also if perhaps humans ate the infected pigs and got infected themselves.

I am sure they need to review Ebola infections in domestic animals, especially if pigs or dogs are implicated in the transmission of an of EBOV to humans.

Seems might not just be humans that they need to develop a vaccine for.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23689899
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23155478
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23626748