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Largest U.S. Biocontainment Facility Opens
The country’s largest medical unit for treating people suffering from diseases such as smallpox and anthrax opened Monday in Omaha, Neb., the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 4). The Nebraska Medical Center’s 10-bed containment wing is equipped to deal with patients infected with contagious and potentially lethal infections, according to AP. The unit has a separate ventilation system and a monitor that will activate an alarm if any air escapes. Ultraviolet light, showers for staff and a sterilization unit for items being removed from the wing will also be used to ensure that germs do not escape. There are only two other such facilities in the country — a two-bed suite operated by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s two-bed unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. No other states are constructing biocontainment facilities, but Nebraska’s unit could become a prototype, said CDC Director Julie Gerberding. “We hope we never have to use it, but if we do need to use it, it’s here,” she said (Associated Press/Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, March 7).
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