The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which has been downplaying the contagious aspects of Ebola — has now quietly admitted via a poster on its website that the virus can in fact be spread by sneezes.
“Drops 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 poster reads, the New York Post reported.
But this is a far cry from what the CDC has previously insisted, said Meryl Nass, with the Institute for Public Accuracy in Washington, D.C., the New York Post said.
“The CDC said it doesn’t spread at all by air — then Friday they came out with this poster,” she said, the newspaper reported. “They admit that these particles or droplets may land on objects such as doorknobs and that Ebola can be transmitted that way.”
Ms. Nass also said: “If you are sniffling and sneezing, you produce microorganisms that can get on stuff in a room. If people touch them, they could be [infected],” the New York Post reported.
And it’s not like the germs in the droplets don’t have staying power.
Rossi Hassad, a professor of epidemiology at Mercy College, said the droplets could stay active for a day, the New York Post reported.
“A shorter duration for dry surfaces like a table or doorknob and longer durations in a moist, damp environment,” he said, the newspaper reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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