That's a good point, but why add it in the first place?

There are several mentions of the timing of CIA operatives getting sick that would allow foreign intelligence analysts to identify them if they had other sources of information about the events.

There's unlikely to be the information you think in that article otherwise the CIA is going to be having a hard time. In all likelihood the CIA worked with the reporter to ensure the right disinformation came out. Note that the FBI refused to comment but there seems to be a lot of inside info about the CIA...

To be ahead of the curve and mislead?