UPDATE: Jaguars apologize for mascot's Ebola joke

By foxsports
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UPDATE: The team issued a statement apologizing for the joke. The full statement is added at the bottom of this story.

Jaxson DeVille, the mascot for the Jacksonville Jaguars who has been played by Curtis Dvorak since its inception in 1996, is generally amusing, as mascots go.

He does the usual mascot antics, but he also does some fun things like closest-to-the-pin contests against golf pros.

Deadly diseases, namely Ebola, are not funny.

Apparently, nobody told Jaxson that as he was seen facing Pittsburgh Steelers fans during Sunday's game, carrying a Terrible Towel in one hand and a sign that read "TOWELS CARRY EBOLA" in the other.

Here's a quick sampling of the reaction on Twitter:

Jaguars President Mark Lamping addressed the situation Monday morning in a statement.

“Improvisation and humor have both been key elements to the character of Jaxson DeVille, especially when he performs at home games. On Sunday, the person who has played Jaxson DeVille over the past 20 seasons made an extremely poor decision in that regard.  The team was unaware of this inappropriate sign, which was hand-made by Jaxson during the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game, until after it had been displayed. We are handling the matter internally and taking it very seriously.  We extend our sincerest apologies to anyone who was offended.”