Saint Louis, Mo. — Two of Missouri’s top-ranked Democrats, Gov. Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster, made announcements today concerning how they planned to address the Ebola virus, which has infected only 3 people in the U.S. but has impacted thousands in Liberia and other parts of Africa. The worldwide death count is now over 9,000.
Nixon announced the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory has been designated as an Ebola Virus Disease testing laboratory as part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Laboratory Response Network today in a brief statement to the press.
“We stand ready to respond to suspected cases of Ebola should one ever occur in Missouri. This designation will give us the ability to quickly assist health professionals by performing the presumptive test here in Missouri,” Nixon said in the statement. “Missouri’s public health workers, health care providers and first responders have been training and preparing for potential Ebola cases and this will strengthen their ability to protect the health and well-being of Missourians.”
“Assisting with the testing of specimens is part of the important work we do with federal and local public health partners to identify diseases and protect the public health,” said Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Gail Vasterling. “Receiving this designation means we can help test and respond to any suspected Ebola cases in a timely and accurate manner.”
The announcement said that the designation would make Missouri more prepared to test and confirm potential Ebola cases within its own boarders, should the diseases spread to the state. Nixon also said he would be releasing $3.3 million in funds for “local public health agencies.”
The announcement came hours after Koster announced his office filed for a temporary restraining order to prohibit a north St. Louis laboratory from accepting medical waste contaminated by the Ebola virus.
A company called “Stericycle” operates the lab and on Oct. 8, the lab received federal permits to transport and dispose of Ebola-contaminated materials. Koster’s temporary order would prohibit the materials from coming to the lab, which Koster’s office said was the site of “numerous violations of Missouri law,” including “failure to test and properly operate infectious waste treatment equipment, failure to account for and treat infectious material in a timely fashion, and failure to keep proper documentation tracking infectious materials.”
Koster filed the temporary restraining order in the Circuit Court of St. Louis, where he also asked the court assess penalties for previous violations of the Missouri Solid Waste Management law.
“This facility has a history of violations in the handling of medical waste,” Koster said in a statement. “We should not allow this company to transport Ebola waste into our state without absolute assurances of safety.”
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
