Risks from Ebola Discharge from Hospitals to Sewer Workers

The unknown safety of non-disinfected disposal of Ebolavirus (EBOV)-contaminated liquid wastes and the efficacy of disinfection approaches were the impetus of this study. Researchers sought to investigate this uncertainty in two-stages: To address concerns within the wastewater treatment community regarding the risk of EBOV transmission to sewer workers performing standard occupational activities downstream from a hospital that is treating Ebola patients where no pretreatment is performed prior to discharge and to examine the effectiveness of various disinfectants on inactivation of EBOV and other highly infectious agents. The study included a quantitative microbial risk assessment to investigate sewer workers’ potential risk of developing Ebola virus disease from inhalation exposure. Published by WERF. 64 pages. Online PDF. (2016)

Originally funded as WERF project WERF4C15.