CNN Unwittingly Blasts Its Own Airborne Ebola Reporting

A CNN report seeking to build public opposition against a travel ban for Ebola-stricken countries took aim at those who have “stoked fears that the disease could go airborne”–a concern raised by CNN’s own reporting.

In a Q&A-style article, CNN’s Jeremy Diamond offered the following response to the question of whether Ebola can be spread through the air: “No. No, no, no. The Ebola virus is only spread through contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has started showing symptoms of the disease.”

The article continued, “And while some have stoked fears that the disease could go airborne, the World Health Organization and other experts have said the chances that could happen are near to nil and are unaware of a virus that has ever mutated in that way.”

CNN’s Diamond is apparently unaware that one of those media outlets who has “stoked fears that the disease could go airborne” is CNN.

Less than two weeks ago, in a CNN article titled “Ebola in the Air? A Nightmare that Could Happen,” CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen quoted the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota (CIDRAP) Dr. Michael Osterholm expressing grave concerns over the prospect of airborne Ebola.

“It’s the single biggest concern I’ve ever had in my 40-year public health career,” CNN quoted Dr. Osterholm as saying. “I can’t imagine anything in my career–and this includes HIV–that would be more devastating to the world than a respiratory transmissable Ebola virus.”