Press Release
January 22, 2009

Better safe than sorry on Ebola, says Loren

Health officials and international experts studying the potency and possible effects of Ebola-Reston virus found in hogs in farms in Bulacan and Pangasinan are one in saying that local pork is safe to eat "as long as the meat is prepared safely and cooked thoroughly."

Senator Loren Legarda, however, said that preventive measures must still be instituted to keep the virus contained as soon as the official findings are released on January 25.

"Better be cautious than sorry," said Loren, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture.

Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health, the World Health Organizations and their local counterparts had taken samples of tissues from hogs in farms in two provinces from where the Ebola-Reston virus strain had been discovered.

The tissues were sent to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States for evaluation, whether the meat from these hogs is safe for human consumption.

Legarda also wanted to know measures to take to prevent the spread of the virus.

Preliminary examinations showed that the handlers of the hogs in the farms in Bulacan and Pampanga have not shown any signs of the virus. Even the hogs themselves which were found to be infected by the virus remain healthy and appear to be "mere carriers" of the virus.

The Ebola-Reston virus is known to exist only in the Philippines and Dave Catbagan, head of the Bureau of animal industry, said it is also the first instance known of the virus jumping to hogs.

"We cannot be confident in this matter. We have to be sure," said Loren.

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