Ebola Killing Robots Arrive US Hospitals

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The robot – made by Xenex Disinfection Services – is being used in 250 hospitals, including the Dallas hospital where the first US Ebola victim died.

The $115,000 machine – which looks like a cross between a large kitchen appliance and a Dalek – uses ultraviolet light to decontaminate hospital rooms, a potentially risky job for humans. The robot can disinfect a room in 5-10 minutes.

The UV light – emitted in pulses – destroys bacteria, viruses, bacterial spores and other nasty bugs on the surface the light lands on.

The Ebola virus – which is transmitted in blood, urine, faeces and vomit – can survive for up to six days on solid surfaces. Given that it can be a messy disease – with bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea – it can require quite a lot of clean-up after an infected patient has been in a hospital room.

Although it seems to only be transmitted through direct human-to-human contact, the virus is so aggressive that it’s important to eliminate any sources of infection.

Source: Mirror.com