“In their paper on Ebolavirus risks to those involved with wastewater collection and treatment, Haas et al. write that hospital discharge containing wastes from Ebola patients does pose a slight, but potentially unacceptable risk,” said Tim Ellis, WER editor-in-chief. “Their analysis utilized a quantitative microbial risk assessment protocol which utilized the known die-off rates for the virus in wastewater and in aerosols. Based on the assessment, the authors suggest additional precautions to protect workers, such as using approved respirators or disinfecting the wastewater prior to discharge to the sewer until further studies can confirm the risk to exposed workers with greater certainty.”
Click here to download “Risks from Ebolavirus Discharge from Hospitals to Sewer Workers,” by Charles N. Haas, Taylor Rycroft, Kyle Bibby, and Leonard Casson.
Selected WER articles such as this one are available free to the public on a monthly basis through an open-access program. In addition, authors can pay a fee to make their accepted articles open access.
About WER
Published by the Water Environment Federation since 1928, WER is a popular professional journal that features peer-reviewed research papers and research notes, as well as state-of-the-art and critical reviews on original, fundamental, and applied research in all scientific and technical areas related to water quality, pollution control, and management. Originally known as the Sewage Works Journal, WER is available in both print and online formats and receives approximately 400 new research submissions each year.
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Media contact:
Travis Loop, 703.684.2465
tloop@wef.org
