Ebola can kill humans quickly, sometimes just a few days after symptoms appear. Its effect on airplanes however, can be even more infectious. Last night for example, the mere mention of the word after a woman threw up caused American Airlines Flight 2791 to make an emergency landing. Hospitals aren’t messing around either: To combat this new threat some have even introduced a special purpose robot — an Ebolabot if you will — to fight back.
The “robot” is not much more than a UV lightbulb on wheels at his point, but it is perhaps a preview of more evolved defenses yet to come. The $115,000 device is made by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection services and currently does battle with viruses and bacteria in some 250 hospitals across the US. Certainly not least among these is the Dallas hospital where the first US case of Ebola also just took a drastic turn for the worse last night.
The market for remote decontamination services may be even greater abroad. Other countries, like Spain for example, seem to be be taking things a bit more seriously. Authorities in Madrid have just moved to euthanize the dog of the first person to contract Ebola outside of Africa. A study by the CDC in 2005 indicated that dogs can be infected by the virus yet may not be overtly symptomatic. As for Ebola spreading to the rest of Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) has already chosen their word for the situation: “unavoidable.”
UV light is certainly one way to kill, but if the virus is lurking in a shadowy corner it seems additional measures may be necessary. It can’t hurt at this point to avail ourselves of the CDC guidelines for disinfection and sterilization for healthcare facilities. Liquid decontamination probably could have a place on version 2.0 of the Ebolabot, as may a gaseous beat-down like ethylene oxide which could reach even more concealed recesses. We are not sterilization experts here, or for that matter Ebola experts, but we do try to keep a bit of common sense handy.
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