A man standing without a protective suit near a US Ebola patient sent social media users into a panicked frenzy yesterday.

He was dubbed the "Clipboard Man" after news media showed a man wearing a shirt and trousers, and carrying a clipboard. He was interacting with four medical workers wearing white protective hazmat suits as they boarded a plane transporting nurse Amber Vinson, the second person infected with Ebola in the US, from Dallas, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia.

More than 3,000 people on Twitter together tried to find the identity of the "Clipboard Man". Users first linked him to the US's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin tweeted: "Dear @cdcgov Who is unprotected clipboard dude ... so we can all stay the hell away from him!"

Another user tweeted: "That man just gives me chills whenever I see this image. No protective gear! Unbelievable! #Ebola#clipboardman"

The mystery of the Clipboard Man was solved after a spokesperson for Phoenix Air, the airline on which Vinson flew, told ABC News he was their medical protocol supervisor. "Our medical professionals in the biohazard suits have limited vision and mobility, and it is the protocol supervisor's job to watch each person carefully and give them verbal directions to ensure no close contact protocols are violated. There is absolutely no problem with this and in fact ensures an even higher level of safety for all involved."

The #Clipboardman conversation is proof that the media is doing an "awful job" explaining Ebola, according to The Verge website. Ebola is spread by direct contact with contaminated body fluids like blood, vomit, saliva and faeces.

Reporting by Samiha Nettikara

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