11 July 2014
A New Zealand owned and operated company is indirectly helping in the fight against Ebola.
Bio-Bottle Ltd (www.bio-bottle.com) supplies a full range of NZ designed, developed and manufactured of IATA approved Infectious Substances packaging to hospitals, laboratories, governments and medical agencies worldwide.
Western Africa is in the grip of a frightening and little understood disease known as Ebola. A relatively “new” disease that has no known or reliable cure, Ebola is thought to be transmitted virally, in the first instance by fruit bats.
The combined population of this region is estimated at around 245 million, and the death toll from Ebola is currently estimated at being between 2500 and 3000 people. To keep things in perspective, it should be noted that excluding Ebola, an approximated 4,000,000 deaths per annum typically occur due to other causes in this area.
Map courtesy of Wikipedia
Of most concern to the world at large is that the disease has no known definitive cure, and it is spreading – well-meaning missionaries, medical people and tourists can be on an aircraft and be in any major city in the world in a matter of hours, potentially taking the disease with them.
Transmission of the disease is initially blood borne, but can be passed on by other bodily fluids (saliva, semen), with a fatality rate of between 50% and 90% of those infected.
Because relatively little is known about the physiology of the virus, large numbers of samples from potentially infected patients have to be sent to be tested in laboratories in Europe and the USA.
These infectious samples have the potential to infect any involved in the transportation chain, including airline and courier staff. To minimise any risk, samples must be packaged properly in IATA approved packaging (samples below) that surpasses the stringent standards and testing required ensuring the safety of personnel as well as the integrity of the contents.
Please contact paislee@bio-bottle.com
News added by: Don Malcolm 11 July 2014
