healthcare
Environmental solutionsnews Covering infection prevention, medical waste management & sustainable practices
VOL. XII XV NO. NO. 43 VOL.
www.HealthcareEnvironmentalSolutions.com
fall 2019 WINTER 2016
Is the U.S. Ready for the Next Outbreak of Ebola?
S
ome say those in charge of our medical emergency systems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), Department of Transportation (DOT), were not prepared for the Ebola outbreak in 2014, (and still aren’t). Others disagree, saying that, of course, not everything went smoothly but could we really expect even near perfection under such circumstances. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Nigerian, was diagnosed with Ebola in September, shortly after arriving in Texas. Three people, two nurses who attended him and a health worker who handled his clinical specimens, contracted Ebola. One of the nurses became the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil. The Nigerian died, but the other three were eventually declared virus-free. Earlier, in July 2014, a number of people returned to the U.S. and came down with the disease or came back after being diagnosed. They were treated at several hospitals – in Worcester, Massachusetts, Dallas, Atlanta, Omaha, and New York City. In those cases, the hospitals knew they were handling Ebola virus and were more careful handling the patients and their waste. But most of America knew only about Duncan and the three ancillary people who were infected. The others were not unexpected, giving those healthcare providers foreknowledge that made dealing with the virus easier.
By Kathleen Marquardt
Because some hospitals were dealing well with these patients, CDC Director Thomas Frieden showed a confidence that hospitals across the country were well prepared to deal with Ebola. And most of them probably would have handled Ebola patients well if they knew what they were dealing with from the beginning. The symptoms of Ebola are the symptoms of many other diseases. There is also the prospective problem that, while 80% of people entering the U.S. from the affected West African countries live within 200 miles of one of the designated Ebola treatment centers, (according to the CDC), there are another 20% who don’t and
will be going to hospitals that are not on the alert for Ebola. On July 17, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) finally declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was now a public health emergency of global concern. The catalyst was that Ebola was diagnosed in Goa, a city of two million, where people are crowded together, elevating the chance of the disease spreading. When they declared this emergency, Robert Steffen, chair of the emergency committee of WHO, asked that all countries, companies, and individuals support the DRC by not placing “travel and trade restrictions as a result of the declaration. Any border closures will have a ‘terrible impact’ on the economy of the affected region”. Complying with this, naturally, will allow the spread of the disease globally, so the U.S. has to be even better prepared than in 2014. Ebola viruses are transmitted through direct contact with infected blood or body fluids/substances (urine, feces, vomit) or through exposure to objects (such as needles) that have been contaminated with infected blood or body fluids. The role of the environment in transmission has not been established. Limited laboratory studies under favorable conditions indicate that Ebola virus can remain viable on
Continued on page 3
Cleveland, OH Permit #1737
PAID
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD