Ebola-Patient Sewage Gets Government Attention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued advice on how to safely handle the sewage of Ebola patients.

The document is aimed at "workers who handle untreated sewage that comes from hospitals, medical facilities, and other facilities with confirmed individuals with Ebola."

That group would include "plumbers in hospitals that are currently treating an Ebola patient, sewer maintenance workers working on the active sewer lines serving the hospital with an Ebola patient, construction workers who repair or replace active sewer lines serving the hospital with an Ebola patient," according to the document.

Handling this sewage safely requires that workers wear protective equipment.

That includes "goggles or face shield: to protect eyes from splashes of untreated sewage, face mask (e.g., surgical mask): to protect nose and mouth from splashes of human waste. If undertaking cleaning processes that generate aerosols, a NIOSH-approved N-95 respirator should be used, [and] impermeable or fluid-resistant coveralls: to keep untreated sewage off clothing," according to the document.

The management of sewage from facilities treating Ebola patients has been controversial this year after the virus emerged for the first time in the U.S.

For instance, "DeKalb County in Georgia threatened to cut the sewer lines to Emory University because the hospital was caring for Ebola patients, a doctor revealed recently," Raw Story reported.

Wastewater treatment workers have not been entirely satisfied with the information they have received regarding the Ebola virus.

"Jim Tucciarelli, President of Local 1320, the union shop representing wastewater treatment plant workers, said he has had a hard time getting answers from different agencies about what Ebola could mean for the sewage system," WNYC reported.

Hospitals were of particular concern to Tucciarelli.

"One of the means of transmission is through bodily fluids. How are they handling the bodily fluids in these contamination hospitals that will be set up?" he said, per WNYC. "We need to know what the experts have to feel from around the world on this thing and get all of the answers together."

After isolated cases of Ebola stoked public health concerns in the U.S., President Obama appointed Ron Klain as an Ebola czar. Klain will depart his post early next year.