Monkeypox – Decontamination & Waste Management 2018

In 2018, in Africa, monkeypox cases were reported in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Nigeria.

On 8th September 2018, an imported case of monkeypox was reported in the UK, with a second imported case reported on 11th September and a third case of a healthcare worker becoming infected following the care of one of the other patients reported on the 26th September.

Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonosis (transmitted from animals to humans) and whilst it does not spread easily between people, it may occur when a person comes into close contact with an animal and more rarely an individual, or materials contaminated with the virus. It was this risk that Ambipar were called upon to mitigate through the provision of specialist decontamination and waste management services.

Project Works:

Ambipar’s response team and in-house Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor worked closely with various stakeholders including Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Transport (DFT) and Lancashire County Council’s Facilities Management Team to develop operational guidance for the management of Category A waste and undertake discrete decontamination operations at three residential properties in the Blackpool Area.

Ambipar’s ADR drivers collected and transported the Category A waste from multiple sites for incineration.

Results:

As a Licenced Waste Carrier providing industry-leading nationwide response times onsite within 2, 12 and 48 hours (depending on nature of the incident) our highly trained response teams were able to support the health authority and local authority in their response to the incident and the monkeypox was contained, with no further transmission.