Ebola: What’s the Difference Between Infections Spread Through the Air or by Droplets?

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). Office of the Director.
• Description:
  Germs like chickpox and TB are spread through the air. Airborne spread happens when a germ floats through the air after a person talks, coughs, or sneezes. Germs may land in the eyes, mouth, or nose of another person. If a germ is airborne, direct contact with the infected person is NOT needed for someone else to get sick. Airborne spread diseases include: chickenpox, tuberculosis. ; Ebola is spread through droplets. 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. Droplets travel short distances, less than 3 feet (1 meter) from one person to another. A person might also get infected by touching a surface or object that has germs on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Droplet spread diseases include: plague, Ebola Droplet spread on doorknob. ; How do I protect myself from getting sick? ; • Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. ; • Cover your cough! Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. ; • Avoid close contact with people who are sick. yAvoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way. ; • Clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces like doorknobs, faucet handles, and toys, since the Ebola virus may live on surfaces for up to several hours. ; Is Ebola airborne? ; No. Ebola is not spread through the airborne route nor through water or food. ; Is Ebola spread through droplets? ; Yes. To get Ebola, you have to directly get body fluids (like pee, poop, spit, sweat, vomit, semen, breast milk) from someone who has Ebola in your mouth, nose, eyes or through a break in your skin or through sexual contact. ; Air, food, and water do not carry the Ebola germs. ; CS252291-A
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• Subjects:
  • Aerosols
  • Body Fluids
  • Disease Transmission, Infectious
  • Ebolavirus
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / transmission
  • Inhalation Exposure
• Keywords:
  • Ebola
  • Ebola Virus
  • Ebola Virus Disease
  • Orthoebolavirus
• Document Type:
  Still Image
• Genre:
  Infographic
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• CIO:
  Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Diseases & Conditions ; Global Health
• Pages in Document:
  1 infographic
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/25740/cdc_25740_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 667.26 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:68b442ac502f14a2c36498ae79653ef40ba27182ce6188e122141544089cc7b67e23613ebe05bd208cc846f370019ebbc8d7b076f292247286641fe5a521854a