Chronological and spatial analysis of the 1996 Ebola Reston virus outbreak in a monkey breeding facility in the Philippines.

To describe the transmission pattern of natural infection with Ebola Reston (EBO-R) virus in a breeding colony, the chronological and spatial analysis of mortality during the 1996 EBO-R virus outbreak was done in this study. The EBO-R virus infection among monkeys in the facility was widespread. Over a period of 3 months, 14 out of 21 occupied units were contaminated with antigen positive animals. A large number of wild-caught monkeys were involved in this outbreak suggesting that wild-caught monkeys have a high susceptibility to EBO-R virus infection. In this outbreak, morbidity patterns for individual animal units were very different regardless of the type and size of cages, individual or gang cages. The results suggest that not only the cage size but also poor animal husbandry practices may be risk factors for the spread of EBO-R infection.