Sanjay Gupta uses chocolate sauce to show us how easy it is to get Ebola

By Dina Spector

The infection of two Texas nurses who treated Thomas Eric 

Duncan, a Liberian patient with Ebola, has 

exposed serious holes in the preparedness of US hospitals to 

treat the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now 

investigating the procedures at Texas Health 

Presbyterian, where the healthcare workers became infected, 

including which protective equipment is being used and how 

it is being put on, the decontamination process once workers 

leave the isolation unit, and the training provided to hospital 

workers.

The CDC still does not know how the latest Ebola patient 

contracted the virus, but it is clear that even extremely minor 

oversights while following hospital protocols can increase the 

risk of getting Ebola.

To illustrate how easy it is to spread Ebola from patient to 

worker, CNN's Sanjay Gupta demonstrated in a video how a 

worker would generally suit up and then remove his or her 

protective gear when following the CDC's guidelines. 

Gupta  uses chocolate sauce to represent Ebola.

First, Gupta puts on his full-body suit.

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Next someone pours chocolate sauce into his hands to represent the Ebola virus.

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Gupta rubs his hands together. The gloves would be the most likely contaminated area, he says.

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The front of the gown can also be easily contaminated 

if the worker smears his or her hands 

across it. Gupta then demonstrates how the gown 

would typically be removed, ripping it off in one 

motion. If part of the glove brushed across his bare 

hand as he was removing the gown, then that could 

be a potential exposure, he says.If his face-shield 

were contaminated, then the virus could also be 

transferred to his neck as he lifts the mask over 

his head.

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Removing the face mask poses the same issue.

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After all his protective clothing is removed, Gupta points out that he has chocolate sauce 

(Ebola) on his arm.

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There's also some stuff on his neck. 

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Gupta says this method may work in many hospital situations 

but that three things "really jumped out at him" as being 

problematic. First, not all of his skin was covered, which could 

be an issue "if there was some splattering from a patient who 

was sick." Second, Gupta says that in pictures provided by the 

CDC, there is no "buddy system," or someone who checks 

workers when they put on their garb and when they remove it. 

Lastly, he notes that there's no specific requirement for 

cleaning one's hands before taking off the gloves.