CDC confusion over Ebola as it deletes warning that it can spread through coughs and sneezes

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It has replaced the old language with new guidance that says there's 'no evidence' Ebola is spread through either
The CDC also took down on Thursday a poster that said that Ebola can be transferred through 'droplets' on hard surfaces, like doorknobs
It's unclear why the CDC abruptly changed it's Ebola advisories
The quiet removal of information follows a public health campaign by Sen. Rand Paul to get the CDC to be 'forthright' about Ebola transfer

Published: 10:02 EST, 31 October 2014 | Updated: 16:37 EST, 31 October 2014

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed a warning from its website that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing.

It has replaced the old language with new guidance that says there's 'no evidence' Ebola is spread through either.

According to the New York Post, the CDC also took down on Thursday a poster that said that Ebola can be transferred through 'droplets' from coughing or sneezing that land on hard surfaces, like doorknobs.

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This undated handout photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows a kit that travelers from Ebola-stricken West African nations will be given containing information cards and a thermometer. The CDC previously suggested that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing. It now says there 'no evidence' to support that claim

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As the Huffington Post, which discovered the shift in language, noted yesterday evening, it's unclear why the CDC abruptly changed it's Ebola advisories. However, the move came a day after the New York Post reported on the existence of the poster.

'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 fact sheet reportedly stated.

Now the page says, '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/Ebola for up-to-date information on Ebola.'

The quiet removal of the information follows a weeks long public health campaign championed Republican Sen. Rand Paul to get the CDC to be 'forthright' about how the disease is spread.

Previously the CDC's frequently asked questions page on Ebola said: 'Although coughing and sneezing are not common symptoms of Ebola, if a symptomatic patient with Ebola coughs or sneezes on someone, and saliva or mucus come into contact with that person’s eyes, nose or mouth, these fluids may transmit the disease.

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A CDC poster claiming that Ebola can spread through 'droplets' of germs on hard surfaces such as doorknobs has been quietly removed from the government agency's website

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Paul has pointed to similar statements from the CDC on numerous occasions as evidence that someone could in fact catch Ebola through the air if in close range of someone who has the virus at, say, a party.

If 'you listen to them closely, they say you have to have direct contact. But you know how they define direct contact? Being within three feet of someone,' he said on one recent occasion.

Given that information, the Kentucky senator has characterized the CDC's claims that the deadly disease could only be spread through direct contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and the virus does not travel through the air as misleading.

'They have so wanted to downplay this that they really, I don't think, have been very accurate in their description of the disease,' Paul told Bloomberg News earlier this month.

Possibly in response to Paul's claims, the CDC has now changed at least one page of it's website to say, 'there is no evidence indicating that Ebola virus is spread by coughing or sneezing.

'Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with Ebola; the virus is not transmitted through the air (like measles virus).

'However, droplets (e.g., splashes or sprays) of respiratory or other secretions from a person who is sick with Ebola could be infectious, and therefore certain precautions (called standard, contact, and droplet precautions) are recommended for use in healthcare settings to prevent the transmission of Ebola virus from patients sick with Ebola to healthcare personnel and other patients or family members.'

The Senator wasn't immediately available to comment on the CDC's updated guidance.

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