Understanding How Ebola Spreads
By Dr. Brian McDonough
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Most of us know a lot more about the Ebola virus than we knew a week ago, but the CDC has been on top of this for quite some time, and the World Health Organization has been monitoring it as well.
That's very important because what we're finding is they know that's it's very difficult to spread the virus from person to person. You need direct contact, but you're talking about bodily fluids - a much more difficult way of spreading the virus.
Even in the case of linen or clothes, there have to be secretions present in order to make the spread more likely. But one of the biggest defenses against the virus is the fact that we can communicate very quickly.
There are reports made now about anything that remotely resembles Ebola, allowing the CDC and other organizations to jump on it. That's very important because one of the best ways to control this is through making sure that other things in place - such as neutralizing the spread through case management, surveillance, and contact treatment.