Biosafety experts' analysis showed that U.S. hospitals may be unprepared to properly dispose of infectious waste of Ebola-stricken patients returning to the country for treatment, thus putting the nation at risk of an outbreak.
The experts explained to Reuters that that waste management firms do not have proper training for handling of hazardous materials associated with Ebola as mandated by law. Unfortunately, not all U.S. hospitals are aware of the law, and this might impede their ability to treat an Ebola patient brought to the country for treatment.
This waste management issue surfaced for Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, the first health care institution to admit Ebola patients in the country. While the institution was treating two U.S. charity aid workers who contracted the disease from West Africa, Emory's waste hauler, Stericycle, refused to gather the waste.
"At its peak, we were up to 40 bags a day of medical waste, which took a huge tax on our waste management system," Dr. Aneesh Mehta from Emory said in a meeting.
Temporarily, the hospital settled to dispose the waste using containers with lids. These containers were kept in a containment area for six days until the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was able to resolve the issue with Stericycle.
CDC spokesman Tom Skinner told Reuters that as of now, the agency does not know of any packaging that is approved for disposing Ebola-related waste. Thomas Metzger, National Waste and Recycling Association's communication director, explained that waste management contractors think are not yet legally allowed to handle and haul Ebola waste until this is addressed.
The U.S. officials believe that as the infection gets worse in West Africa, it will not be long enough before the disease hits the United States. Early this month, the hospitals tested 10 walk-in patients who were all negative of the disease.
The CDC warned that Ebola waste should not be handled like a regular infectious waste because of its potential to harm humans.
