Despite repeated assurances from the Centers for Disease Control that the Ebola virus is transmittable only through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, an Ebola fact sheet issued by the CDC in 2010 suggests every species of the virus has demonstrated the ability to spread by aerosol particles “under research conditions.”
The fact sheet, issued by the CDC in April, 2010, says: “Ebola-Reston appeared in a primate research facility in Virginia, where it may have been transmitted from monkey to monkey through the air. While all Ebola virus species have displayed the ability to be spread through airborne particles (aerosols) under research conditions, this type of spread has not been documented among humans in a real-world setting, such as a hospital or household.”
The incident in question involving the Ebola-Reston virus occurred in November, 1989, when an outbreak broke out among crab-eating macaques at a lab in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. Doctor C.J. Peters, the man who oversaw the Army’s response to the outbreak, expressed concern that the Ebola virus could be spread through the air. According to Gerald Jaax, one of the Army scientists who responded to the outbreak, scientists concluded there was some form of aerosol spread of the virus in the monkey house. The outbreak in Reston, Virginia inspired Richard Preston’s 1995 book The Hot Zone.
Two doctors involved in the response to the Ebola-Reston outbreak, including Dr. Peters, have come forward to debunk claims that the strain of Ebola currently ravaging West Africa can not mutate to become airborne transmittable. “We can never say never, but I just don’t think the risk is very high,” said Thomas Geisbert, a professor at the University of Texas at Galveston who co-discovered the Reston strain of Ebola. Dr. Peters, also currently a professor at the University of Texas at Galveston, told The Los Angeles Times, “we just don’t have the data to exclude it.”
Numerous other doctors and medical professionals have come forward to express concerns that the strain of Ebola involved in the current outbreak could mutate to become fully transferable by air. Dr. David Sanders, an Ebola expert at Purdue University, told RTV6, “It can enter the lung from the airway side, so this argues that Ebola is primed to have respiratory transmission.”
Peter Jahrling, a chief scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he runs the emerging viral pathogens section, told Vox he believes the current strain of Ebola is more virulent than previous strains and has the potential to become fully airborne. “You can argue that any time the virus replicates it’s going to mutate, so there is a potential for the thing to acquire an aerogenic property but that would have to be a dramatic change.”
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, published a report claiming there is evidence to suggest Ebola can be transmitted by aerosol particles. “We believe there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles both near and at a distance from infected patients, which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks,” wrote Dr. Lisa M. Brosseau and Dr. Rachael Jones.
While the Ebola-Reston virus is not transferable from monkeys to humans, the CDC claimed in its 2010 fact sheet that all species of the Ebola virus have demonstrated the ability to spread through airborne particles “under research conditions.” An experiment performed in Canada in 2012 demonstrated that the Ebola-Zaire virus (the deadly strain involved in the current outbreak) could be transmitted from pigs to monkeys with no direct physical contact between them.
While the CDC continues to downplay the risk of Ebola transmission through aerosol particles by claiming it has only occurred ‘under research conditions’, an advisory issued by the CDC entitled Interim Guidance about Ebola Infection for Airline Crews, Cleaning Personnel and Cargo Personnel, seems to indicate concerns about airborne contamination. The advisory suggests airline staff provide surgical masks to potential victims who are coughing and sneezing, and suggests they not use “compressed air, pressurized water or similar procedures, which might create droplets of infectious materials.”