How is Ebola spread? That’s what an increasing number of people are wondering as new potential cases are reported across the United States and Europe while the disease takes more lives in Africa.
The virus is mostly spread through direct contact--or, in other words, through broken skin or mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose, or mouth--with a range of material.
This includes blood or bodily fluids such as urine, saliva, and sweat of a person who is sick with Ebola; objects such as needles and syringes that have been contaminated with the virus; and infected animals.
Only mammals--such as humans, bats, and monkeys--are believed to be able to become infected with and spread the virus.
The virus can also live the longest in semen--for up to three months. Abstinence is recommended for at least three months for people who have recovered from the disease.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control are insisting that Ebola cannot spread through air or by water, but other researchers are calling that claim into question.
For instance, researchers at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) say that there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles,” including breath.
“There has been a lot of on-line and published controversy about whether Ebola virus can be transmitted via aerosols. Most scientific and medical personnel, along with public health organizations, have been unequivocal in their statements that Ebola can be transmitted only by direct contact with virus-laden fluids,” CIDRAP researchers wrote.
But, according to the organization, this line of thinking is not up to date.
“This reflects an incorrect and outmoded understanding of infectious aerosols, which has been institutionalized in policies, language, culture, and approaches to infection control. We will address this below. Briefly, however, the important points are that virus-laden bodily fluids may be aerosolized and inhaled while a person is in proximity to an infectious person and that a wide range of particle sizes can be inhaled and deposited throughout the respiratory tract,” the group said.
CIDRAP has been doing research on Ebola for years, and it has been a leader in addressing health preparedness on emerging infectious diseases.
Meanwhile, a House GOP chairman says the public is losing confidence by the day in the government’s strategy on Ebola. He says mistakes and errors in judgment have been made.
Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania made his comments as he convened a congressional hearing on the response to the deadly virus. It came amid growing anxiety in the U.S. over the possibility of Ebolaspreading widely here, something public health officials insist will not happen.
In his opening statement Murphy said that the “trust and credibility of the administration and government are waning as the American public loses confidence each day. He cited ”demonstrated failures” with the current strategy and called for a travel ban.
Murphy spoke as leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health were seated at the witness table before him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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