Of all the things riders worry about when they board the CTA-Will my Ventra card work? Will I get a seat? Will my bus or train move slowly?-catching the Ebola virus shouldn't be a source of concern, public health experts say.
Doctors told RedEye's public transit column that the chances of catching the Ebola virus while riding a bus or train are slim because riders would have to touch an Ebola-infected rider's blood or bodily fluid. Brian Steele, a CTA spokesman, said the transit agency is "monitoring this public health issue" and working with the city to ensure it's prepared.
There are no confirmed cases of Ebola in Illinois, but Chicago health officials are said to be monitoring a Chicago man after he returned from Liberia, where he was working as a journalist and covering the Ebola outbreak.
Concerns were raised about catching Ebola on public transit aft er Dr. Craig Spencer, who is being treated in New York for the virus, told authorities he rode the subway there after returning from West Africa, where he was treating patients with the illness, according to media reports.
Dr. Emily Landon, University of Chicago hospital epidemiologist, said Ebola patients are not infectious until they begin showing symptoms that are "really, really obvious" that a person is gravely ill.
Ebola is not spread through air, water or food.
Landon said in order to catch the virus on a bus or train, a person would have to touch a rider's vomit, urine or feces and then touch his or her nose, mouth, eyes or open wound. It's much more difficult to catch the virus from rider sweat than blood or feces, which has a higher concentration of the virus, Landon said.
Ebola can live in pools of blood and feces on train or bus seats, but "once the surface is dry, the Ebola is dead."
"Your best bet is to stand up if you're worried about it," Landon said.
Landon recommends if a rider spots another rider vomiting or having diarrhea on a bus or train to tell a CTA train operator or bus driver immediately. Landon said riders are more likely to catch a cold or flu riding public transit than Ebola.
Dr. Julie Morita, chief medical officer at the Chicago Department of Public Health, said in a statement that the risk of an Ebola case in Chicago being detected "is very low. However, the likelihood of an influenza outbreak this year is high, as it is every year. The flu vaccine prevents the spread of illness and is the best way to protect yourself and others."
For its part, the CTA continues to clean its buses and trains daily, Steele said. The Centers for Disease Control has not issued any directives on new or expanded procedures public transit systems should implement, Steele said.
The CTA has a longstanding protocol for cleaning buses or trains contaminated with rider bodily fluids, which includes isolating a bus or rail car so no riders can enter and removing the bus or rail car from service as quickly as possible, Steele said.
Earlier this year, the CTA noticed an uptick in the number of reports of feces in rail cars, which the agency attributed to homeless people seeking shelter on 24-hour trains during the harsh winter.
The CTA said it found the incidents were happening mid-route between the time a train left a terminal and arrived before the end of the line. Staff walk through trains and clean them before they leave on a run, Steele said.
As for Ebola, "CTA will continue to follow industry best practices and work closely with health officials," Steele said.