By Barry C. Fox, M.D., University of Wisconsin
Do we have to worry about Ebola in the United States? Well, the answer is a resounding yes based on the 2014 experience in Texas where the first imported case occurred. But even before that, there was a less-known outbreak of Ebola in the United States, the Reston Ebola outbreak.
Ebola Outbreak
In 1989, the United States was faced with a possible Ebola outbreak in Reston Virginia, transmitted from monkeys. One hundred macaque monkeys were shipped from a farm in the Philippines and trucked to Reston, VA to the Hazelton laboratory facility, where they would be quarantined for 30 days.
In a short period of time, an unusual number of the monkeys died. At autopsy, the monkeys had an enlarged spleen, blood in the intestines, and were thought to have Simian hemorrhagic fever. The veterinarian shipped frozen samples to a specialized Department of Defense lab, where they came up with a diagnosis of the Ebola virus.
This is a transcript from the video series An Introduction to Infectious Diseases. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
Decontaminating and Sterilizing the Site
Testing of employees showed that six workers at Reston seroconverted, meaning they had detectable antibodies in their blood; evidence of the Ebola infection. Amazingly, no workers became ill.
This case highlights the increasing concern over global travel and trade, as this virus probably originated on a monkey farm in the Philippines. Although no one died, the story took a bad twist for our concerns over handling bio hazardous material.
Scientists were charged with euthanizing all remaining monkeys, and others were assigned to decontaminate the building. A team was sent to Hazelton to sterilize the site.
To their disbelief, they found that the staff of the Hazelton group was still working in the building, without hazmat suits, and totally unaware of the danger.
Learn more about the experimental vaccines given to Ebola patients.
Ebola-Reston
With respect to the Ebola outbreak in Reston Virginia, researchers discovered that this was a new species of Ebola, now named Ebola-Reston. It was virulent in monkeys, but fortunately not in humans. The fact that Reston Ebola was not pathogenic to humans was just a stroke of luck.
This incident was described in detail in a non-fiction book in 1994 called The Hot Zone, written by Richard Preston. The author even visited caves where the bats causing Ebola are thought to live. Even Stephen King, famous for his own horror books, described this book as “one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever read”.
Moreover, a viral hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola is the virus of choice in the movie Outbreak from 1995, starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, and Morgan Freeman.
Exported from West Africa
After the Reston outbreak, Ebola didn’t cross into the United States until it was exported from West Africa. In 2014, three infected American healthcare providers in West Africa were brought to Emory University hospital for treatment.
With the supportive care of modern medicine, like replacing fluids and controlling bleeding, they survived.
However, a man from Liberia brought the virus to Texas, where, in spite of the best efforts, he died.
Learn more about the virus which can replicate inside living cells.
Need for Better Protocols
The fact that two nurses who had cared for the dead man became infected brought to light the need for better protocols, better protective equipment, and more rapid deployment of the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, staff.
Thus, it is quite evident that there are no global boundaries with infectious diseases, and this seemed to be just a serious wakeup call for those who think that faraway diseases won’t cross the ocean.
Common Questions about Ebola Crossing Borders
With respect to the Ebola outbreak in Reston Virginia, researchers discovered that this was a new species of Ebola, now named Ebola-Reston. It was virulent in monkeys, but fortunately not in humans.
The testing of employees in case of Ebola-Reston showed that six workers at Reston seroconverted, meaning they had detectable antibodies in their blood; evidence of the Ebola infection. Amazingly, no workers became ill.
In 2014, three Ebola infected American healthcare providers in West Africa were brought to Emory University hospital for treatment. With the supportive care of modern medicine, like replacing fluids and controlling bleeding, they survived. A man from Liberia brought the virus to Texas, where, in spite of the best efforts, he died.
