CDC pulls poster saying Ebola can spread through a sneeze
New CDC confusion over Ebola as it deletes warning that virus can spread through coughs and sneezes from its website
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed a warning from its website that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing.
It has replaced the old language with new guidance that says there's 'no evidence' Ebola is spread through either.
According to the New York Post, the CDC also took down on Thursday a poster that said that Ebola can be transferred through 'droplets' from coughing or sneezing that land on hard surfaces, like doorknobs.
This undated handout photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows a kit that travelers from Ebola-stricken West African nations will be given containing information cards and a thermometer. The CDC previously suggested that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing. It now says there 'no evidence' to support that claim
As the Huffington Post, which discovered the shift in language, noted yesterday evening, it's unclear why the CDC abruptly changed it's Ebola advisories. However, the move came a day after the New York Post reported on the existence of the poster.
'Droplet spread happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose or mouth of another person,' the fact sheet reportedly stated.
Now the page says, 'The What’s the difference between infections spread through air or by droplets? Fact sheet is being updated and is currently unavailable. Please visit cdc.gov/Ebola for up-to-date information on Ebola.'
The quiet removal of the information follows a weeks long public health campaign championed Republican Sen. Rand Paul to get the CDC to be 'forthright' about how the disease is spread.
Previously the CDC's frequently asked questions page on Ebola said: 'Although coughing and sneezing are not common symptoms of Ebola, if a symptomatic patient with Ebola coughs or sneezes on someone, and saliva or mucus come into contact with that person’s eyes, nose or mouth, these fluids may transmit the disease.
Paul has pointed to the statement on numerous occasions as evidence that someone could in fact catch Ebola through the air if in close range of someone who has the virus at, say, a party.
The Kentucky senator said the CDC's claims that the deadly disease could only be spread through direct contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and the virus does not travel through the air are misleading given the guidance on coughing and sneezing.
Possibly in response to Paul's claims, the CDC has now changed its website to say, 'there is no evidence indicating that Ebola virus is spread by coughing or sneezing.
'Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with Ebola; the virus is not transmitted through the air (like measles virus).
'However, droplets (e.g., splashes or sprays) of respiratory or other secretions from a person who is sick with Ebola could be infectious, and therefore certain precautions (called standard, contact, and droplet precautions) are recommended for use in healthcare settings to prevent the transmission of Ebola virus from patients sick with Ebola to healthcare personnel and other patients or family members.'
The Senator wasn't immediately available to comment
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