THE UNITED Nations have called on a Southport firm to help them tackle the growing Ebola crisis.
The deadly virus, for which there is no known cure, has killed over 4,500 people since an outbreak began in Guinea in 2013, spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone before the virus made its way into America and Spain.
To combat the spread of the virus thousands of aid workers and doctors from around the world have traveled to West Africa to treat those who have fallen ill and as a result, use tonnes of materials which become hazardous and need to be disposed of via incinerators.
As such, the world’s largest incinerator manufacturer, based on Southport’s Canning Road Industrial estate, has been drafted in by the United Nations to provide a plethora of incinerators for disposing hazardous material.
Bosses at Inciner8 say they are delighted to be working closely with the United Nations for Incinerators to the areas of West Africa currently hit by the deadly Ebola virus.
The range of incinerators available from Inciner8 are ready made for the burning of hazardous waste ranging from the smallest and most mobile medical waste Incinerator to the largest Incinerator capable of burning up to 1000kg per hour.
Paul Niklas, Sales and Marketing director for Inciner8, told The Champion: “We appreciate fully and understand the terrible issues faced by the people of West Africa and the support agencies in place to combat the daily problems that exist.
”We will be endeavouring fully to ensure that we send our products in the quickest possible time with our engineers to support both installation and training as part of our committed service in reducing and eliminating the spread of this disease by transporting contaminated materials to other locations.
“Inciner8 continue to take the lead on many fronts and are currently working with other government agencies and Aid organisations as the innovation leader in the global Incineration market.
”The Ebola incinerators are being made and shipped out as we speak.
“It’s a natural procedure for us; we’ve done this for other disasters such as the war in Iraq.
”During our time in Iraq we had to deal with all sorts of residue, waste and contamination mainly for military purposes. “We’ve also supplied incinerators to the police in South America.
”However the Ebola virus is definitely up there as one of the worst cases we have faced – there is major risk in contaminated medical waste.
“What we do is provide a safe environment for people to burn waste, which is obviously far better than burning it in uncontrolled environments.
”You can take the incinerators to the problem. It’s impossible to guess what will happen next as things are changing on a day-to-day basis.
“We were first contacted about two and a half months ago. Normally we send our own people out, however it’s not something that we’ve been able to do this time as a result of the risk.”
In August 2014, the World Health Organisation declared the West Africa Ebola epidemic to be an international public health emergency.
Urging the world to offer aid to the affected regions, the Director-General said: “Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own.
”I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible.“
By mid-August 2014, Doctors Without Borders reported the situation in Liberia’s capital Monrovia as ”catastrophic“ and ”deteriorating daily“.
As of October 15, 2014, there have been 17 cases of Ebola treated outside of Africa, four of whom have died.
In early October, Teresa Romero, a 44-year-old Spanish nurse, contracted Ebola after caring for a priest who had been repatriated from west Africa.
This was the first transmission of the virus to occur outside of Africa.
On September 19, Eric Duncan flew from his native Liberia to Texas; five days later he began showing symptoms and visited a hospital, but was sent home.
His condition worsened and he returned to the hospital on September 28, where he eventually passed away.
Health officials confirmed a diagnosis of Ebola on September 30 – the first case in the United States.
On October 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a nurse in Texas who had treated Duncan was found to be positive for the Ebola virus, the first known case of the disease to be contracted in the United States.
On October 15 a second Texas healthcare worker was confirmed to have the virus.
British Nurse Will Pooley, who survived Ebola, has already returned to Sierra Leone where he caught the deadly virus.
by: http://www.champnews.com/newsstory.aspx?story=3058174