CDC pulls poster saying Ebola can spread through a sneeze
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Thursday yanked a poster off its Web site explaining how Ebola can be spread by contaminated droplets — from a sneeze for example — a day after The Post reported on the frightening revelation.
The fact sheet was taken off line, and a link that led to it a day before now sends viewers to a different page with a different message.
“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/Ebolafor up-to-date information on Ebola,” it read Thursday.
Officials with the CDC remained mum on the issue, refusing to respond to questions for the original story and again on Thursday.
The Post reported Wednesday that the CDC acknowledged that people can catch the virus by coming into contact with droplets from an infected person on a doorknob or other surface.
If a person touched those droplets and touched their eyes, nose or mouth for up to several hours later or more, they could contract the deadly contagion, the CDC said.
“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 poster stated.
The poster prompted Dr. Meryl Nass, of the Institute for Public Accuracy in Washington, DC., to charge that the agency was sending mixed messages.
“The CDC said it doesn’t spread at all by air, then they came out with this poster,” she said. “They admit that these particles or droplets may land on objects such as doorknobs and that Ebola can be transmitted that way.”
Asked Thursday why the poster was pulled, Nass replied, “I think they probably didn’t like the story in The Post!”
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