Biotech Values

[oldberkeley]

How did Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol obtain the virus? I would think they used every precaution possible...

I've wondered the same thing. This from the linked Reuters article is the closest I've found to an answer:

But like other carers interviewed by Reuters, she [a nurse] is worried the fabric of the yellow full-body suits used to protect workers on isolation wards is too flimsy to block the virus. "Improper personal protective gear is a serious issue here," she said.

World Health Organization (WHO) experts strongly deny there is any problem with the protective equipment. They point to a chronic lack of experienced staff that is forcing health workers to cut corners in the arduous daily task of decontaminating wards and treating patients.

And:

The virus is only transmitted via contact with body fluids - blood, urine, saliva, faeces - from someone showing symptoms of Ebola. Patients in the final stages of the disease can be bleeding from their orifices, covered in blood blisters, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea.

For doctors attempting to clean them or deliver palliative care - like intravenous drips for hydration - while wearing protective suits, goggles clouded by tropical heat, and thick gloves, the work can be physically and mentally exhausting.

And:

Just taking the suits on and off under controlled conditions required up to 45 minutes and must be done with the assistance of another person, experts say. After removing goggles, mask, suit and gloves and throwing them in a plastic bag, workers are sprayed down with chlorinated water.

Samaritan's Purse, which ran the case management centers in Foya and Monrovia, said that with its workers only able to wear the suits for four hours, it was using 75 Personal Protective Equipment suits per center per day.

"The risk of getting infected when taking the suit off if proper procedures are not followed is high," said Ken Kauffeldt, Liberia country director for the U.S.-based charity.

It has said its two American staff - Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol - probably contracted the virus in the scrub-down area from a local worker who caught it at home.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/01/us-health-ebola-healthworkers-idUSKBN0G14FR20140801