Ebola virus: 5 major protocols for health care workers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a protocol for hospitals to follow when they deal with a known or suspected case of Ebola.

It details everything from what health workers should wear to how a body infected with Ebola should be handled.

The CDC is blaming a "breach" in this protocol for the first transmission of the Ebola virus in the USA between a health care worker and Thomas Eric Duncan, the man who died of Ebola last week.

However, it's unclear how that breach happened.

Some health experts say the USA lacks a single, national response to Ebola, particularly because public health is primarily a state issue.

"Unfortunately, it is possible in the coming days that we will see additional cases of Ebola," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said in a news conference Sunday.

Here are some key points from the federal recommendations:

1. How to handle personal protective equipment

Everyone entering the room must wear personal protective equipment (PPE) that consists of gloves, a fluid-resistant gown, goggles and a face mask. For extra precaution, health care workers can double up on gloves, wear disposable shoes and leg coverings.

The PPE should be "carefully removed without contaminating one's eyes, mucous membranes or clothing" and then thrown away. Workers should also wash their hands immediately after removing the PPE.

2. Isolation

The patient must be placed in a single room with its own bathroom and a door that closes. The hospital must keep a log of everyone who goes into the room.

Hospitals should use a mattress and pillow with a plastic covering or some other material where fluids can't get through.

Patients should not be placed in a carpeted room. All upholstered furniture and decorative curtains should be removed.

All the "non-porous" surfaces should be disinfected daily using disposable cloths and wipes. The used cloths and wipes should be placed in a leak-proof container and eliminated by incineration or autoclaving, a sterilization process using steam.

3. Needles kept at a minimum

The use of needles and sharp objects should be used at a minimum and, when used, "handled with extreme care."

4. How to monitor for possible infection

Someone who suddenly develops the symptoms of Ebola — including fever, muscle weakness or pain, vomiting or diarrhea — should stop working immediately and seek a medical evaluation.

Someone who does not have symptoms but may have been exposed to Ebola should seek a medical evaluation and receive twice-daily fever monitoring for 21 days.

5. How to prepare the dead body of an infected individual

The body of a person infected with Ebola should be wrapped in a "plastic shroud." Any intravenous lines or tubes in the body should be left in place. The wrapped body should then be placed in two leak-proof plastic bags.

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