Dallas: Workers Spray Ebola Patients’ Vomit Off of Sidewalk with Pressure Washer and No Protective Clothing (Photo)

Washington’s Blog

Carelessness May Lead to Spread of Disease

Ebola carrier Thomas Eric Duncan – the guy who brought Ebola to Dallas – vomited outside his apartment building.

A WFAA TV Dallas/Fort Worth Channel 8 news chopper took the following photograph showing how workers are cleaning up the vomit:

Notice that the woman on the left wearing sandals is about to step into the run-off.

And here’s another screenshot showing a guy walking through the power-wash runoff:

Couldn’t they be tracking it on the bottom of their shoes as they move around? What about the power-wash guys? Where did they go next?

That might be a pretty good way to spread Ebola … especially if experts are right that Ebola spreads through aerosols.

Similarly, the Ebola patient’s sweat-stained sheets have been left on his bed for days without being removed, and soiled towels are still in the apartment – even though his family is still quarantined in the same apartment – because they can’t find workers willing to remove them.

As we noted yesterday, arrogance and carelessness may lead to unnecessary deaths.

Update: WFAA TV Dallas/Fort Worth Channel 8 news says that the Centers for Disease Control ordered the sidewalk to be power-washed.

Apparently, they didn’t tell anyone to use protective suits, or to keep residents or passersby away while power-washing.

And from the casualness of the guys doing the power-washing, it is unlikely that (1) they put any disinfectants in the power-washer or (2) they were even told what they were cleaning.

Heck of a job …

Washington’s Blog