The United States is approaching an answer to the question of how hospitals should dispose of medical waste from Ebola patients, according to an article on the Huffington Post website.
Experts warn that conflicting regulations could make it difficult for hospitals to handle the medical waste from Ebola patients.
Safely handling such waste presents a dual challenge for regulators, who want to both prevent the accidental spread of the deadly disease and avert any deliberate attempts to use it as a bioweapon, the article said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises hospitals to treat items infected with Ebola in leak-proof containers and discard them as they would other regulated medical waste.
But the Department of Transportation deems Ebola a Category A infectious agent, meaning it is capable of killing people and animals, and not regulated medical waste.
Waste management contractors say they cannot legally haul the material, which leaves hospitals without a way to dispose of the waste, the article said.
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