Health officials in the Philippines confirmed last week that a worker at a pig farm has contracted the Ebola Reston subtype of Ebola virus.

The virus was found in pigs at two farms on Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, last year (see _Nature_ 457, 364–365; 2009). Fifty workers at those farms were subsequently tested for antibodies to the virus, and one has tested positive. World Health Organization officials estimate that he contracted the virus between 6 and 18 months ago, although it has not been proved that he caught it from a pig.

Direct transmission from pigs to humans would be a cause for concern because pigs are thought to act as 'mixing vessels', where viruses can mutate into more virulent forms with a greater impact on human health.