Ebola Reston
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Ebola Reston is a strain of the Ebola virus. In 1989 crab-eating macaques imported from the Philippines ended up in the Hazleton Research Products facility at 1946 Isaac Newton Sq W, Reston, Virginia where the outbreak occurred.
This specific strain of the Ebola virus caused a rather large panic, but after containment, it was discovered that although closely resembling Ebola Zaire, it proved fatal to only non-human primates. However, four of the Reston primate handlers tested positive for antibodies to the virus, suggesting that they had been infected but were asymptomatic.
The physical building in which the outbreak occurred was demolished on May 30, 1995 and a new building constructed in its place. This facility, which is part of an office park, became a Kindercare and is a Mulberry Child Care and preschool center as of 2007.
Ebola Reston is indistinguishable under an electron microscope from other Human-type Ebola, yet deadly to the monkeys that were in the Reston research facility. It has been hypothesized that the reason that this strain of Ebola is deadly to non-human primates but harmless to humans lies in a minute genetic mutation of the virus. This strain is spread via airborne means, a supporting fact of genetic mutation as the original Ebola strain was not capable of infecting organisms through airborne contact. The surviving monkeys were euthanized as a precautionary measure.
The outbreak was the subject of Richard Preston's best selling 1994 book, The Hot Zone.
