MANILA, Sep. 8 — Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. on Monday assured the public that the Ebola virus found in monkeys by local health authorities is not a threat to human health.
The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Saturday that the virus, which has infected some monkeys in an undisclosed facility in the country, is the Ebola Reston Virus (ERV).
“Ayon sa Department of Health, ang uri ng Ebola na nakita sa bansa ay hindi kahalintulad sa strain na kumalat sa Africa,” Secretary Coloma said during a press briefing.
“Ang klase ng Ebolang ito, ang Ebola Reston, ay dati nang nakita sa bansa at naidokumento ng DOH na hindi nakakapagdulot ng anumang sakit sa tao,” the Palace official explained.
Coloma said the inter-agency Committee on Zoonosis, which was formed in 2011 by virtue of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Administrative Order No. 10, is working on the Ebola virus case.
“Sa kasalukuyan, ang Philippine Inter-Agency Committee on Zoonosis na kinabibilangan ng DOH, Department of Agriculture, at ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources na nilikha noong 2011 sa pamamagitan ng Administrative Order No. 10 ng Pangulong Aquino ay nagtutulong-tulong sa pagpapatupad ng mga programa at istratehiya upang pigilan, kontrolin, sugpuin ang mga tinaguriang zoonotic diseases o ang mga sakit na naililipat mula sa mga hayop tungo sa tao at vice versa,” he further said.
The DOH on Saturday confirmed positive cases of ERV virus among monkeys in a facility that the DOH did not disclose.
According to Health Secretary Janette Garin, the ERV may be transmitted to humans, without resulting in illness.
The DOH report said, “The threat to human health is likely to be low or none for healthy adults. In order to ensure the safety of the staff in the said facility, blood samples were collected from all employees and were sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for ERV antibodies using ELISA or Enzyme Immunosorbent assay. The results yielded negative for ERV.”
While it does not cause any human illness, the DOH said it will continue to monitor the health status of the staff currently employed in the said facility.
“Maraming klase ng Ebola. Meron Ebola na grabe ang epekto sa hayop ngunit hindi naapektuhan ang tao. This is a possible case of Ebola Reston. Ito ang pinakamabait na Ebola Virus sa tao,” Secretary Garin said.
She also called on the public to remain calm and be vigilant.
“We call on the public not to panic as wrong information may lead to more harm than help in the community. Vigilance is still needed. Let us be precautious, and adhere to the reminders given by the DOH. This is not something new and was present in the Philippines before. Allow us to emphasize that the present situation is limited to monkeys. Ang importante ito ay nakita, nalaman, at hinahanap ang pinanggalingan upang mapigilan ang pagkalat,” Garin added. (PCOO/PND)
