Georgia county threatened to cut off hospital sewer lines over Ebola, doctor says
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/georgia-county-threatened-to-cut-off-hospital-sewer-lines-over-ebola-doctor-says
Kalb County in Georgia threatened to cut the sewer lines to Emory University because the hospital was caring for Ebola patients, a doctor revealed recently.
Speaking at the Infectious Disease (ID) Conference last week in Philadelphia, infectious disease expert Dr. Bruce Ribner recalled some of the shocking challenges officials had to deal with after two Ebola patients were brought to Atlantas Emory University Hospital in August.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ribner explained how doctors utilized a containment unit that the Centers for Disease Control built at Emory 12 years ago, which was intended to deal with situations like the two high-intensity Ebola patients who were losing up to 2 1/2 gallons of fluid per day.
But apparently DeKalb County did not have faith in the CDC precautions because Dr. Ribner said that officials threatened to cut the sewer lines if the hospital tried to dispose of any Ebola-tainted waste.
The Wall Street Journal reported that DeKalb County made the threat despite guidance from the CDC that sanitary sewers can safely accommodate patient waste.
In the end, the hospital was forced to sanitize all toilet waste with bleach for five minutes before flushing it down the sewer.