The invisible workers, who else is being exposed?

This has been on my mind lately, what about the folks we don't ever encounter, but who encounter every fluid to come through a city or town. There are people at the other end of the toilets that flush. If this virus lives for so long in fluids, what kind of warning will our waste water treatment operators even get? They have homes and families to return to every day, and kids that go to the schools.

Are the treatment workers in Dallas being monitored? Have they been provided with suits and gear for protection? Were they even contacted and informed that Mr. Duncan was in the city and had presumably flushed contaminated materials down into the system? As soon as he used the toilet it made it into the public, and those folks at the other end of the line are the ones that will deal with it.

I know it isn't an in depth thread, simply some serious questions that I can't personally set off to the side. Seeing this morning that the airline cleaners are striking, it seemed like an appropriate time to put it out there.

Hmm? I did not think my topic was offtopic It clearly did mention EBOLA.

a reply to: proob4


My husband is this worker, so it's been overwhelming me lately, honestly.
I know they haven't even discussed it.

a reply to: woodsmom

Do you think the good folks that work with raw sewage/at sewage treatment plants don't wear some sort of haz-mat suit or protective clothing to begin with? They literately have to work with the worst materials possible on a daily basis. I think Ebola is hardly the worst of their enemies at those places.

Edit: I see you are concerned with your husband's well-being? Where does he work on the line?

a reply to: Gemwolf
My husband works at one, they don't wear suits. They wear work clothes and are exposed on a daily basis.
They have not even discussed the possibility yet.

ETA he's the last one in the line. He gets to clean the place up.
We are not in Dallas, though, I'm looking ahead.

a reply to: Gemwolf

No protective equipment here. Our guys might wear rubber boots and nitrile gloves..sometimes. usually it's just uniforms.

I wonder how many Ebola-chan cultists would enter these roles to be exposed.

a reply to: alexball

Luckily, it takes at least some training.
People can't just walk up and ask for a job unless they are already in the industry.

Why are people so sick.

a reply to: woodsmom

I am sure - and you/your husband's input is welcome - that the folks that has any chance of coming in contact with raw sewage/untreated materials are already safe from the seriously dangerous micro-organisms in it.
From bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, jejuni (the major cause of Gastroenteritis), cholerae (causes cholera) to parasites like roundworms, tapeworms and Cryptosporidium (causes Cryptosporidiosis) to viruses like HPV, Rotavirus, Norwalk Virus, Adenoviruses and many, many more. Many of these can cause symptoms just as bad as that of Ebola - if not worse.

So, as it is there should already be measures in place to protect the workers from the existing dangers. Putting Ebola into play shouldn't (and probably wouldn't) have any impact on existing measures and precautions. If they didn't have efficient safety measures in place for the workers, the workers would be dying by the dozen.

In my humble opinion, you shouldn't be worried about your husband being infected at work.

a reply to: Gemwolf

They do have good hygiene practices, and go as far as to change clothes before coming home.
They also have excellent immune systems in general because of the constant minute exposure.
I came across one of the articles that mentioned how little virus it takes, and that caught my attention.
I really appreciate your input, thank you. And you really can delete this.

a reply to: woodsmom

No problem - and no need to delete the thread. The discussion need not be over - other folks may have different opinions than mine or yours or may have similar concerns.

a reply to: woodsmom

your husband does not come home with the myriad of other pathogens contractable from raw sewerage - why do you think he will come home with ebola ?????????????

We could expand this discussion to include other workers as well. Trash collectors, Janitors, Food service workers, public transportation drivers, etc.

Janitors and other clean up crews have the unenviable task of cleaning up filth like bloody vomit, or stools, toilets, floors etc...

All these people and their families need information and guidelines so they try to protect themselves and their loved ones. I agree guidelines are in place already, but the minute amount of EBV required to infect is what the concern is, IMO

a reply to: Zona

This was exactly what my hopes were. There are more than the wwtp workers.
I'm curious as to what is being done industry wide as well. I see a lot of folks talking about how it just won't spread here, but don't we need to be aware of all vectors before we become so arrogant?

@ignorant_ape, my husband does bring home small doses of whatever comes through town. He always takes extra precautions when needed, and I'm not worried about him walking through the door with Ebola tomorrow. I'm wondering what is being done to prevent that, for anyone, in this or any questionable line of work. We all saw the lovely pressure washing job they were doing.

Honestly, this enterovirus going around bothers me too.

a reply to: woodsmom
Part of my frustration is the lack of forthright information from the MSM. MSN still was stating you could not catch EBV from a sneeze or cough, yet you absolutely can IMO. Just breathe it in, or touch an infected object and rub your nose or eyes and voila! you are now exposed.

All these workers need to be given relevant information BEFORE they need it rather than after.

Is that too much to ask? It's not fearmongering, its spreading info....

Thank you for this thread. In the 1990s I worked for an independent laboratory in Dallas that held a contract to test raw sewage samples for illegal dumping of materials into the sewer system. We tested hundreds of samples daily from all over the city. If I was doing that job now I would be concerned. We had some PPE, lab coats and gloves, but not everyone even wore those all the time. We were encouraged to get hepatitis A vaccinations as might be exposed to that. The scenario of someone with no known contact with an infected person developing the disease is scary because it would probably take a very long time for them to be diagnosed.

a reply to: thuja

That is precisely my fear. Nobody would know until it was too late. Even if the hospitals could alert the appropriate agencies and entities to be alert and take precautions if there is a possibility of contact, it could save lives and slow the spread. Prior to a person being at the hospital there's not much anybody can do.

Well, I'm going to wake this back up this morning. I'd like to talk about Ebola in the workplace. Some industries are going to be at larger risk than most. Namely the healthcare industry, but also others such as our Wastewater treatment operators, our janitors, our trash collectors, the people who have made it their jobs to clean up after us everyday.

My husband and I discussed it this weekend. They are still simply going about business as usual. We have our own personal plans in place but it disturbs me that nothing has even been seriously discussed as a work place safety issue. We discussed things like pans of bleach water to disinfect boots and such. At what point should any employee be made aware of the possibilities as well as provided the proper tools to perform their jobs safely.

I'm sure we will never know, but I'm curious as to how they have decided to handle such issues in Dallas. Maybe some new protocols can be adopted out of the mistakes and or diligence done in these first days. We know one thing, and that is the fact that it has spread and now infected someone here. I keep reading about the doubling effect this virus has. There has to be things that we can do, in our daily lives as well as within certain industries that can prevent the spread.

I'm already reading about healthcare workers and their families bugging out of Dallas. It seems a prudent thing to do at this point, but where will we be if everyone does just decide to relocate to a safer place? We need to start the conversations about this now before that becomes a reality and our infrastructure is understaffed.

Yes, let's worry about every little thing that can expose us to a disease that only two people in the country has gotten.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Well, how do we keep it only two people. When you have a loved one in a position to directly contact Ebola it makes you take notice. We have also been fed the official line this entire time and look what's starting to happen. We don't know who else could have picked it up from her. What about the people working the treatment plant in Dallas, have they been provided with the proper PPE to handles contaminants? I've never been willing to place my family's safety in the hands of the "official" story, I'm not about to start now.

As far as our infrastructure goes, I just read another post in which a healthcare worker stated they would quit the moment an infected patient walks through the door. If enough people do that who is going to take care of grandpa when he comes in with a heart attack? I understand this is off in the distance, but if people could prevent it, wouldn't they? Are we going to be the downfall of ourselves because of maintaining the status quo and avoiding the issues until they are in our faces? Or are we going to all pay attention and take the proper precautions and stop it in its tracks?