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Article: Ebola in Texas Monkeys Similar to Reston Strain; Virus From Philippines Is Less Deadly To Humans Than Type Found in Africa
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 17, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The strain of Ebola virus that infected two monkeys brought
recently from the Philippines to a Texas primate center is virtually
identical to the one that killed more than a dozen animals but
caused no human disease in an outbreak outside Washington seven
years ago.
Named "Ebola-Reston" after the Virginia suburb where the first
cases were found, the virus behaves quite differently from the
African strain of Ebola, which readily infects people and has a
mortality rate between 50 percent and 80 percent. There is no
treatment for the infection. Eight people at the remote animal
quarantine unit in Texas have had contact with the two infected
animals.
"We cannot say with absolute ...