Ebola waste clean-up: the CDC and the DOT have conflicting regulations. That's the current problem.
We may be lucky that this issue has arisen now, when there is only one case involved. Though I'm wondering why it didn't come to light when Dr. Brantly's medical waste had to be transported out of Emory University Hospital.
Few hospitals have the large incinerators needed to dispose of the amount of medical waste involved in an Ebola case, so the issue of handling biowaste must be worked out. And we weren't prepared with the answer. We are lucky that this wasn't a large scale disaster; that our system got tested -- and failed -- on a smaller scale. Hopefully this will be our wakeup call on the need to fix it -- nationally, not just in Texas.
http://www.wcvb.com/health/cleaning-crew-delayed-at-ebola-patients-home/28383914
Brad Smith of the Cleaning Guys, which was hired to sanitize the apartment, said his company is ready to go but a permit issue has stopped them from entering the home. Smith says a specialized permit, which is handled by the state government, is needed to transport this type of unprecedented hazardous waste on Texas highways. Cleaning Guys specializes in hazmat and biohazard cleaning services, but it does not transport the materials.
Ebola can spread through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids like blood, feces or vomit. CDC spokeswoman Abbigail Tumpey says the CDC considers materials contaminated with Ebola as regular medical waste, and as such, can be disposed of as medical waste. But she said the Department of Transportation considers Ebola to be a Category A agent, which means it's illegal to transport.
"The CDC and the DOT regulations have been in conflict. It's been an ongoing issue that we've been dealing with. We hope to have a resolution on that literally today."
"This is a unique situation," Smith said. "Once awarded, our hazmat teams will be allowed back inside to do their jobs."