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Ebola - a perspective on being airborne?
It is said that it is not transmitted through the air but only close contact with bodily fluids. In you are sitting next to a person who is not showing symptoms but perhaps is just sneezing - are not the droplets put out by sneezing actually a body fluid? As hard as one may try to cover up a sneeze sometimes it is not possible. Thoughts?
1 Answer
- DavidLv 67 years agoFavorite Answer
Yes it would be transmissible by droplets. That is not the same as it being airborne.
The interaction with air is at the surface of the object. The surface decreases by the square root while the volume and mass decrease by the cube root as objects get smaller. Beyond a certain point, the surface area is adequate for the gentlest of air currents acting on it to produce enough force to keep the object airborne long beyond the ballistic trajectories produced by forces acting on projectiles.
The “sol” suffix in aero”sol” refers to particles in suspension – borne by – the medium. The gentlest of currents in the medium delay the settling out of the particles.
The particles in a spray are initially all ballistic – like a “ball” that is thrown. If they are small enough, or can become small enough soon enough through evaporation of contained liquid, then they can transition from ballistic to airborne. However the Ebola virus is fragile, the drying needed for particles to become airborne would denature the virus, rendering it non infectious.
