Can I get Ebola from eating food? Ebola virus is not spread by consuming food, with the possible exception of bushmeat[PDF – 1 page] in (or from) Africa. Bushmeat is meat from wild animals, such as bats and monkeys, hunted for food in developing regions of the world such as some African countries.
No one has been infected with Ebola from foods that were imported, or even illegally smuggled, into the United States.
No one has been infected with Ebola from eating foods that are grown or purchased in the United States.
There is no evidence that foods produced commercially have ever transmitted Ebola virus anywhere in the world.
There has been no evidence in previous Ebola outbreak investigations of the virus spreading through food contaminated with the blood or body fluids of an infected food worker.
Can I get Ebola from handling or eating African bushmeat in the United States?
In some African countries, past Ebola outbreaks were associated with exposure to contaminated bushmeat, although the way Ebola was spread (butchering, handling, or eating) from bushmeat to people is unknown.
Hunting, butchering, and eating wild animals in the United States poses no risk of Ebola virus infection.
It is illegal to bring bushmeat into the United States.
Bushmeat brought into the United States from Africa could make people sick if it contains Ebola virus, although this has never occurred.
Bushmeat found at United States ports of entry is confiscated and destroyed along with all items that may have come in contact with the bushmeat.
Up to $250,000 in fines may be imposed for smuggling bushmeat into the United States.
If you encounter bushmeat in the United States, do not eat it or handle it, and report it to the health department.
Does food imported from any of the countries in West Africa with widespread transmission, or from countries with Ebola cases in urban settings with uncertain control measures, pose a risk to United States consumers?
In West Africa, transmission of Ebola through eating or handling food other than bushmeat has never been documented. Foods (other than bushmeat) imported from West Africa should pose no risk of Ebola to consumers in the United States.
Additionally, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has import regulations that are intended to protect the livestock population of the United States.
USDA regulations prohibit the entry of live animals including cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and animal products, meat and poultry unless they were treated to mitigate the risk of diseases from most countries in Africa, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali.
Is it safe to eat at restaurants owned or operated by people from West Africa?
There is no reason to avoid restaurants owned or operated by persons of a specific race, ethnicity, nationality, or country of origin.
People of West African descent living in the United States are not at greater risk for Ebola than other people living in the United States.
Recent travelers to the region, or those with known contact with an Ebola patient who was ill or died from Ebola, regardless of country of origin, are actively monitored for signs and symptoms of Ebola by public health officials for 21 days after they return to the United States.
Q&As for the Food Industry
Are there any special precautions I need to take for employees who return to work after traveling to any of the countries in West Africa with widespread transmission or countries with Ebola cases in urban settings with uncertain control measures?
If you have an employee who has traveled to the United States from any of the countries in West Africa with widespread transmission, or with cases in urban settings with uncertain control measures, or has had contact with a confirmed case of Ebola, the employee will be actively monitored by public health officials for 21 days after the date of their departure from West Africa or contact with the case.
Active monitoring establishes daily contact between public health officials and travelers from the affected region to monitor for signs and symptoms of Ebola.
Public health workers at your health department will decide if people who are being actively monitored will need additional public health orders such as restrictions on movement based on their level of risk.
These public health orders could stop a person from going to work, or being in public places like movie theaters.
In the event your employee begins to show signs or symptoms of Ebola, you and the employee should contact the health department immediately. They will assess the situation and recommend the most appropriate course of action.
The signs and symptoms of Ebola include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain, and unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising).
If the employee is at work and begins to show signs or symptoms, the employee should isolate her or himself in a room away from others. If the employee needs immediate medical attention, call 911 and tell the responder about the concern about possible Ebola infection.
If the employee is not at work, the employee should not report to work and should isolate her or himself from others and await further information from the health department.
The health department will want to know if anyone had direct physical contact with the ill employee or his or her blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen).
The isolation and evaluation plan includes appropriate directions to limit exposure of other persons to the sick employee, and to direct the individual to a hospital that has been equipped to receive potential Ebola patients and evaluate them for both Ebola and for many other more common illnesses that have symptoms similar to Ebola.
Can sick food workers spread Ebola through food?
If an ill food worker has not had contact with anyone with Ebola, either in the United States or West Africa, he or she does not have Ebola and cannot give anyone Ebola.
There is no evidence in either the current outbreak or in previous Ebola outbreak investigations of the virus spreading through food handled by an infected food worker. However, any food worker with fever or illness symptoms such as coughing, vomiting, or diarrhea should not handle food.
Contact your health department immediately if a food worker develops signs or symptoms of Ebola after returning from a country in West Africa where there is an Ebola outbreak, or has had contact with someone who has Ebola.
If someone with Ebola sneezes or coughs on a food item, can this person spread Ebola?
There is no evidence that Ebola virus is spread by coughing or sneezing.
Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with Ebola.
Ebola virus is not transmitted through the air. However, droplets (e.g., splashes or sprays) of respiratory or other secretions from a person who is very sick with Ebola could make others sick.
Food that is known to be contaminated in any way, such as by a sneeze by someone with a cold, should always be thrown away and should not be sold or served for human consumption.
How do I clean and disinfect an area that may be contaminated with Ebola?
Do not attempt to clean an area that may be contaminated with Ebola virus.
Call your health department immediately and stay away from the possibly contaminated surface area. People trained, and equipped with the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), to clean vomit or other body fluids that could be contaminated with Ebola will be able to safely clean and disinfect the area.
What steps need to be taken if I find out that a customer who visited my establishment has been diagnosed with Ebola?
Contact your health department to discuss the best course of action.
The risk of other employees or customers contracting Ebola would be extremely low unless people came into direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who was sick with Ebola.
As a manager of a food establishment or food processing operation, are there additional questions I need to ask employees that call in sick?
If you are concerned about the possibility of Ebola infection in an employee, you can ask sick employees:
Have you traveled to one of the countries in West Africa with widespread transmission, or to another country with cases in urban settings with uncertain control measures, within the past 21 days?
Have you had direct contact with someone with Ebola, or the body of a person who died from Ebola, within the past 21 days?
If the employee answers yes to either of these questions, and reports a sign or symptom of Ebola, contact your health department immediately and tell the employee to call the health department. The employee should not report to work and should isolate her or himself and await further information from the health department.
