Did the CDC just get caught deleting Ebola pages from its website? (Yes)

http://twitter.com/#!/Neoavatara/status/528162754088038401

Yesterday, this story in the New York Post was making the rounds among conservatives on Twitter. In a nutshell, the Post reported that information on the CDC’s website said that Ebola could be spread with a sneeze or a cough:

"Nass pointed to CDC poster quietly released on its Web site saying #Ebola can be spread through 'droplets.'" http://t.co/4yyR0gBUlM

— Michael Graham (@IAMMGraham) October 30, 2014

CDC SNEEZE WARNING http://t.co/d63kFLStXm

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) October 30, 2014

CDC admits droplets from a sneeze could spread Ebola | New York Post http://t.co/DUZnwTRTSj

— Smart Girl Politics (@OfficialSGP) October 30, 2014

But not so fast. Now it seems the CDC has ratholed that which it once said was true but is now embarrassing. Via Sam Stein of the Huffington Post:

CDC scrubs Ebola website, replaces text to say no evidence disease spreads by coughing/sneezing http://t.co/q4KsFz8cqR via @ArthurDelaneyHP

— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) October 31, 2014

An excerpt from Stein’s piece:

The page was a PDF document that explained the difference between infections spread through the air or by droplets. The PDF had been taken down as of Thursday afternoon, with this message in its place: “The What’s the difference between infections spread through air or by droplets?Fact sheet is being updated and is currently unavailable. Please visitcdc.gov/Ebola for up-to-date information on Ebola.”

An earlier version of the page is still available in Google’s cache. It said that while Ebola is not “airborne” like chickenpox or tuberculosis, it can travel a few feet in the air inside droplets emitted when someone coughs or sneezes.

Do we really need to explain to America’s smartest doctors that the Internet is forever? Sheesh.

Conservatives were quick to jump on this latest bit of idiocy:

Absolute clusterf— of public health governance MT @ArthurDelaneyHP: CDC removing Ebola factoids from its website? http://t.co/woeLYaSFrb

— David Freddoso (@freddoso) October 30, 2014

Scrubbing evidence is super sciencey you guys. https://t.co/Qhz06cjDJX

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 31, 2014

.@samsteinhp @arthurdelaneyhp CDC seems to be better at quarantining information than they are with people affected by infectious diseases.

— Can of Spam (@iDoLikeSpam) October 31, 2014

@samsteinhp @KatiePavlich @ArthurDelaneyHP The CDC is full of INCOMPETENT BOOBS who need to get REAL JOBS.

— T.C. Slape (@ClaySlape) October 31, 2014

@samsteinhp @KatiePavlich @ArthurDelaneyHP CDC Chief should be fired but then again, he's taking orders from the Prez. So both should go.

— Michael Nunez (@mickeynu477) October 31, 2014

Of course they did. RT @hotairblog: CDC removed info on coughing and sneezing from Ebola Q&A http://t.co/nbD5BORKRU

— Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) October 31, 2014

Maybe the American public would feel better about free-range Ebola health workers if the entire CDC explanation on Ebola wasn’t a work in progress?

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