The Texas Health Department had only recently become certified to conduct the Ebola test, when the first case in the United States popped up in Dallas.
A key step in Ebola testing at the state lab in Austin is taking a virus specimen and rendering it non-infectious.
Texas Health Department spokesman Chris Van Deusen says they don’t want the virus spreading inside or outside the lab “there are multiple layers of protection as far as you know, people wearing equipment and separating themselves while they are working with specimens that may contain Ebola or other serious viruses or bacteria.”
Van Deusen says when the ebola outbreak in Africa began to spread, the CDC approached public health providers across the country to see if they would be interested in receiving training to deal with Ebola and Texas was one of them.
Texas is now just one of 13 states authorized to conduct Ebola testing.
SEE ALSO:
- History of the Ebola Virus
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- Questions and Answers About the US Ebola Case
- The US Ebola Case: 5 Things To Know
- Up Close with Patients in the Throes of Ebola
- Dallas Hospital Patient Tests Positive for Ebola
Texas One of Just a Few States That Can Conduct Ebola Testing was originally published on news92fm.com
