Can the Dead Still Spread the Ebola Virus?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa in 2014 was the largest in history. On September 30, 2014, the CDC and the Texas Health Department confirmed the first Ebola case in the United States in a man who flew from Liberia to Dallas, Texas, aboard a commercial flight. This individual subsequently died from the viral infection on October 8.

The CDC has affirmed that “the virus can be detected throughout the body” of those who die from Ebola, which raises the question: Do victims of the Ebola virus still pose a health risk to the living in funeral, burial and other postmortem settings?

Can the Dead Transmit the Ebola Virus?

The CDC considers Ebola a rare but deadly disease. The virus is spread when someone comes in contact with an infected individual’s bodily fluids, such as blood, breast milk, feces, perspiration, saliva, semen or urine, or touches a surface wet with these fluids.

Unfortunately, the death of an Ebola-infected individual does not end the threat of further contagion. According to the Boston Public Health Commission: “Ebola may spread during funerals or burial rituals if people have close contact with the body of a person who died of Ebola.”

On October 8, 2014, the CDC updated its guidance on the safe handling of Ebola-victim remains for those working in hospital or postmortem settings, such as a funeral home or embalming room. The CDC notes that workers in these environments are still at risk because the “Ebola virus can be transmitted in postmortem care settings by laceration and puncture [of the living] with contaminated instruments used during postmortem care, through direct handling of human remains without appropriate personal protective equipment, and through splashes of blood or other body fluids.”

Because of this danger, the CDC advises against embalming the body of an Ebola victim due to the risk of viral transmission during the embalming process. In addition, mortuary personnel should not handle or remove the remains from the body bag, or even open the body bag.

The CDC also advises that those who die of Ebola should be cremated or buried as soon as possible in a hermetically sealed casket. Once the body of the Ebola victim (within the unopened body bag) is placed within the sealed casket or cremated, mortuary personnel do not need to wear personal protective equipment, according to the latest CDC guidelines.

What Does this Mean for You?

Because of the risk of Ebola transmission after death, a traditional funeral visitation involving an open-casket viewing of the embalmed body is not possible.

In addition, under “normal” circumstances when a family selects cremation as the method of final body disposition, surviving loved ones often view the body of the deceased beforehand, either during a private viewing or a service involving a larger collection of family members, friends and loved ones. (In fact, it’s not uncommon to embalm the deceased and then hold a “traditional” funeral service at a church or funeral home chapel followed by cremation instead of burial.) Again, per the CDC’s guidelines, viewing the body of an Ebola victim regardless of interment choice is not possible in order to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

Additional Information:

• The CDC’s “Guidance for Safe Handling of Human Remains of Ebola Patients in U. S. Hospitals and Mortuaries”

• How to Prevent the Spread of the Ebola Virus (CDC)

Sources:

“2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 10, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/index.html

“CDC and Texas Health Department Confirm First Ebola Case Diagnosed in the U.S.,” September 30, 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 10, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/s930-ebola-confirmed-case.html

“Ebola Virus Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 10, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/about.html

“Ebola Virus Disease.” Boston Public Health Commission. Retrieved September 10, 2017. http://www.bphc.org/whatwedo/infectious-diseases/Infectious-Diseases-A-to-Z/Pages/Ebola-virus-disease.aspx

“Guidance for Safe Handling of Human Remains of Ebola Patients in U.S. Hospitals and Mortuaries,” October 8, 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 10, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/guidance-safe-handling-human-remains-ebola-patients-us-hospitals-mortuaries.html