Can Ebola Be Transmitted Through The Air?
In a lengthy document that received nearly no media attention, a U.S. government agency has warned preliminary data shows Ebola is aerostable, meaning it can survive in the air.
The document was released in a federal government announcement seeking research proposals from private firms for Ebola treatment and diagnosis tools, including for the rapid disinfection of an “aerosol” version of the virus.
The announcement indicates that despite its public pronouncements to the contrary, the government is concerned that the virus can spread through the air via vaporized bodily fluids.
The information – contained in a 33-page report released October 24 by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (the Department of Defense’s Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction) – contradicts a statement on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which declares that “Ebola is not spread through the air or by the water.”
And yet, in another section of its website, the CDC is non-committal in its response to whether or not Ebola can be spread by coughing.
And in a new online document, the CDC makes this statement, “While Ebola virus can be spread through airborne particles under experimental conditions in animals, this type of spread has not been documented during human EVD outbreaks in settings such as hospitals or households.”
Scientists have not confirmed that the current strain of Ebola can be spread through airborne particles. But that may be due to the inability to conduct controlled human experimentation, which would require actually infecting people with an aerosolized Ebola virus.
There have been studies, including one conducted by scientists from the CDC, in which strains of aerosolized Ebola were transmitted to monkeys.
FEMA In Midst Of Pandemic Training
Talk about timing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is currently in the middle of a two-year pandemic training exercise with New York City and northern New Jersey.
Titled “2013-2014 Pandemic Influenza Continuity Exercise Strategy,” the FEMA training simulates a global pandemic of influenza that spreads from person to person, including in the U.S.
The training began last year, before the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has killed nearly 5,000 people.
An overview of the training includes a list of assumptions such as that the “clinical disease attack rate will likely be 30 percent or higher in the overall population,” utilizing a prediction from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
FEMA warns that economists, epidemiologists and other experts predict the “effects of a modern-day pandemic will be seen in every industry and government agency at local, regional, national and international levels.”
The overview states a pandemic can “threaten all critical infrastructures by its impact on an organization’s human resources causing a loss of essential personnel from the workplace for weeks or months.”
FEMA is preparing for the possibility that 40 to 50 percent of both government and private-sector staff will be absent for periods of about two weeks at the height of a pandemic wave.
A wave is defined by FEMA as a period in which community outbreaks occur across the country. The simulated outbreak assumes multiple waves of the pandemic illness could occur, with each wave lasting two to three months.
Hamas Leader: Expletive Reflects Obama’s True Feelings
In an interview Sunday on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” senior Hamas leader Salah Bardawil asserted that the anonymous White House officials referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “chicken[bleep]” reflect the Obama administration’s “sincere” feelings.
Asked for his thoughts on the “chicken[bleep]” comments, the Hamas strongman stated, “It’s not a secret that Obama felt many times disappointed from Mr. Netanyahu. And it’s not a secret that Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy was not acceptable by the administration.”