FYI... the Reston strain has appeared twice in the US, once in (obviously) Reston, VA, and the second time in TX. It has been found in pigs in China and the Philippines, and appears to be endemic in both countries. I do not know if the reservoir has been identified.
As of a few years ago, a total of 15 people had been shown to have seroconverted. Active viremia was established in at least one case, but no symptomatic disease has ever been observed. Given the pathogenicity of the other known Ebola strains, the Reston strain is treated as a BSL4 agent and considered to have the same VHF potential (until proven otherwise... which may be a while).
I'm quoting from memory, but this information was all published in the WHO experts consultation on Ebola Reston pathogenicity in humans (1999).
I find that interesting, but in some pieces I read they indicated that there were assumptions made that were not verified by science. It left a question as to was it the reston strain or a new strain similar to reston. They also believe that something like it is killing great apes.
I made a leap of logic on one of my posts where I said that I thought it could be a Eblola Zaire infection that swaps some RNA with a resident flu virus in the primate and when passed on, it looks like reston but in reality it’s a new strain of reston.
But I don’t know this.
What I do know is that macaque monkeys are very social animals. If one gets something, chances are they all get it within a geographic area.
As such I think Reston was a one off where they accidently scooped up patient zero. I think other instances of what they attribute to reston, are new instances of a Ebola Zaire combination with some other as of yet unknown factor. It could be identical, but it seems unlikely to be. I think Ebola is just a very complex bug and they have yet to fully understand it.
As to china and pigs...I have absolutely no faith in anything that is reported out of China. They make a lot of outlandish claims and they browbeat anyone who does not agree with it. It’s not that a pig could not get the virus, tests say it can, but it presents as a cold or flu and resolves it’s self.
If it was Reston, I can’t say, but it acts like it was so I think they made assumptions. Very much like what is going on in the media today.
If the Reston strain is still active, then what is carrying it? How could it jump to a pig farm? In my view it a simple case of Ebola Zaire, carried by the fruit bat that get’s into another animal and on rare occasions binds with a second virus in the animal emerging as a very close twin to Zaire but totally different and not a threat to humans.
I don’t think it’s the same Reston, I think it’s a new one.