Tag Archives: Airborne

CDC Admits Airborne Ebola Possible

The head of the Centers for Disease Control has admitted to reporters for the first time the possibility that Ebola could become an airborne virus.

Dr. Tom Frieden, however, sought to downplay the possibility.

“The rate of change [with Ebola] is slower than most viruses, and most viruses don’t change how they spread,” he said.   “That is not to say it’s impossible that it could change [to become airborne.]  That would be the worst-case scenario. We would know that by looking at … what is happening in Africa. That is why we have scientists from the CDC on the ground tracking that.”

Frieden pointed to evidence that there is very little proof of a human virus ever mutating to the point it transmits in an entirely different way.

“We have so many problems with Ebola, let’s not make another one that, of course, is theoretically possible but is pretty way down on the list of likely issues,” infectious diseases expert William Schaffner told Scientific American.

UN Ebola Chief Fears Disease Could Go Airborne

The head of the U.N.’s Ebola response says that unless it’s brought under control quickly, the risk is growing likely the virus will mutate and become airborne.

Anthony Banbury said it would be a “nightmare” scenario if the virus were to mutate within new hosts to become airborne.

“The longer it moves around in human hosts in the virulent melting pot that is West Africa, the more chances increase that it could mutate,” Banbury told the London Daily Mail.  “It is a nightmare scenario, and unlikely [now], but it can’t be ruled out.”

Banbury also said it was the worst situation he’s ever seen.

“In a career working in these kinds of situations, wars, natural disasters – I have never seen anything as serious or dangerous or high risk as this one.”

The fears of the UN head come as Texas officials admit at least 80 people have been taken into quarantine because of contact with the confirmed Ebola patient in a Dallas area hospital.