We are constantly being assured that Ebola cannot be spread through the air. I have not reviewed this literature, but have looked at how cholera might be spread (see my RG question). It seems quite clear that despite the authoritative assertions that cholera is spread through the water supply, this is clearly untrue and we really have no idea how it is transmitted. Has anyone seriously considered the possibility that cholera, and indeed ebola, can be transmitted via aerosols rising up from ground level, for example? If we really do not understand how diseases are spread, and have not followed up all epidemiological clues, science should own up to this.
It is true that everyone says Ebola cannot be spread via aerosols, perhaps in anecdotal support of this is that the rate of spread in affected areas would have been cataclysmic by now. More studies are certainly needed to try to understand the epidemiology of this disease. I think it would be best to assume we don't know all the possible modes of transmission and take full precautions against any means of spread, including aerosol.
Ebola virus can be transmitted via aerosols rising up from ground level,. Yes, communicable disease viruses are spread through aerosols, like humid hanging drops in air, Though epidemiological confirmation is not available.
"perhaps in anecdotal support of this is that the rate of spread in affected areas would have been cataclysmic by now"
I think this line of reasoning is faulty (though very common!). If the virus was spreading through the atmosphere and dropping down anywhere, this argument is fair enough. But if it is via aerosol, this could be arising from a very local aerosol source, with very limited geographical range.
According to Colin Brown in The Conversation, Jan 16 2015, "The only human-to-human transmission of Ebola occurs via direct contact with body fluids of an infected individual". He also says that 500 health workers in Sierra Leone have died from Ebola. Are we to believe that all these professionals with all their protective gear were unable to prevent directly contacting body fluids? There is surely some contradiction and implausibility here. In memory of all these brave people, we should surely keep an open mind and take seriously the possibility that there is airborne transmission, but in a very limited area around the patient.
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