Rescue Mission Team

Rescue Mission Team

Student’s Name

Institution of Affiliation

Date

Name of the team:

HCC microbiology students

Proper personal gear (PPE) to work with the patients:

The condition seems to be transmitted through physical contact with infected humans, which means that they have to wear PPEs as precautions and for protective measures. Proper Personal protective equipment (PPEs) that can be of great help to the group include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, hard hats, coveralls, vests and full body suits (Nill, 2019). Having this equipment can help prevent the group from contracting the contagious disease.

Measures to eliminate exposure to pathogens after working with the patients:

After working with the patients, the rescue group might have their PPEs infected with the virus, and thus, they should dispose of their PPEs and disinfect themselves to help kill the pathogen or weaken its infectious ability. Tools used to take samples from the infected persons as well as needles used in vaccination should be well disposed off to minimize the risk of infecting people.

Food safety measures:

The infectious disease is spread through contact, which means that there might be no pathogens in food responsible for the infections. However, since the source of the disease is not yet known, it would be advisable for the group to ensure that food safety procedures have been effectively followed. Some of the food safety measures that the group should observe include keeping their food clean, including washing off the dirt and sanitizing to kill germs when preparing food. Also, the group should separate raw and cooked foods to prevent contamination. Cooking food thoroughly is another food safety measure that the group should observe. Cooking food thoroughly serves to kill germs that may be present in the food. Since the group did not carry their own food due to transport problems, they will be forced to consume food from the island, which might probably be contaminated. To be on the safe side, the group should cook their food thoroughly. Finally, keeping their food at separate temperatures can help prevent contamination and the potential chances for infection as it will minimize the growth of germs in the food.

Water safety measures:

Due to transport problems, it would be difficult for the team to carry their own supplies, including water. Based on this, they will be forced to use water from the island and which might probably be infected. Water from the island may contain disease-causing agents such as viruses, bacteria and parasites. It may as well contain chemical contaminants and thus be unsafe for drinking. As a result, the group can treat or disinfect the water through boiling to kill germs as well as using chemicals for treatment, all of which serve the same purpose, disinfecting the water to make it safe for drinking, thus reducing the risk of infection if the pathogen was found in water.

Placement of sick people (with description):

The disease has spread on the island and thus, has affected a significant population. Based on this, the team need to be cautious in dealing with the infected populations. Two major ways can be used in the placement of sick people, including isolation and quarantine (Huremović, 2019). Both methods help in protecting the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have contagious diseases.

Isolation – This involves the placement of people who are already sick, and thus, individuals already infected with the disease will be isolated from the public to help reduce further infections.

Quarantine – This involves the placement of people who are not sick but may have been exposed to the disease through direct interaction with the sick persons. Based on this, the rescue group should focus on quarantining this population as they may inhabit the pathogen and thus risk getting sick.

Correct level of biosafety of the filed microbiology lab (with description):

Setting up a laboratory is a must to help test the collected samples from the patients. Since the specimen to be used in the laboratory can result in infections of healthy individuals, I would set up a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory, which would include access to equipment that can decontaminate laboratory wastes, including an incinerator, an autoclave, as well as other methods of decontamination. Access to the laboratory will be highly restricted when work is conducted to keep the risk of infection minimal.

Pathogen specimen preparation to transfer to the main lab:

Pathogen specimens will be collected from the isolated population. Swabs from the red spots will be taken to include the pus for testing. The swabs will be placed in airtight specimen holders and preserved using nitrogen, thus making them ready for transportation to the main laboratory for testing.

Pathogen Identification, interesting facts:

The pathogen for this disease is assumed to be the variola virus, commonly known as the smallpox virus. The reason for reaching this assumption is because the virus presents similar symptoms, including pain in areas such as the back or muscles, skin rashes, small bumps, blisters and scabs. These are some of the symptoms presented in the case study, and thus, the most definitive test for the collected samples will be to test for the variola virus. In addition, according to the case study, the host of the disease is strictly limited to humans and is contagious. Therefore, to identify the virus, the students should look for a virus that has double-stranded DNA.

Possible treatments of the disease:

Smallpox is a virus, and thus there is no cure but the management of the disease. Vaccines are used to control the spread of smallpox, and therefore, administering smallpox vaccines to the entire population on the island can help control the spread of the virus. Also, the administration of antiviral drugs can also be used to treat the spread of smallpox in the region.

Measures to eradicate disease on the island:

Viruses are hard to eliminate, and thus, managing the cases on the island is the only possible solution. The containment measures of the smallpox virus include ring vaccination as well as the isolation and quarantine of the cases and contacts (Mohanty et al., 2020). Hospitals can act as isolation centres where those who are infected with the disease are treated and vaccinated. Also, it would be better to conduct a mass vaccination across the entire island to help boost the immunity of the inhabitants. Through vaccination, isolation and quarantine, the infectious disease will have a high possibility of elimination from the island as it will have been effectively managed.

Vaccine description (providing it is available):

Vaccination with the smallpox vaccine is the main way to help control the spread of the disease on the island. The smallpox vaccine protects people from getting smallpox by helping their bodies develop immunity to smallpox. The smallpox vaccine is made from the vaccinia virus, a poxvirus similar to smallpox but less harmful (Kaynarcalidan, Moreno Mascaraque & Drexler, 2021).

Precautions are taken to avoid spread (how is it spread?) of the pathogen by the team and ship crew upon return to the mainland:

Minimizing the spread of the disease is of the utmost importance to both the residents of the island as well as back home. For this reason, the team that had gone to the island to control the spread of the infectious disease should be vaccinated and isolated from the general population for at least two weeks. Isolating these individuals will minimize contact, and thus, if they had been infected, they will not infect other people, and this will help control the spread of the virus. In regard to their belongings, they should be decontaminated to help contain the virus. However, it would be recommended that most of the belongings be incinerated to ensure the complete elimination of the virus. To the ship that was used to pick them up after the mission, it should be decontaminated and withdrawn from the active fleets to ensure that no more people get infected with the virus. Everyone who was in the ship might as well be required to isolate or be quarantined for a period of at least two weeks to minimize chances of spread in the event that they had been infected without knowledge. They should as well be vaccinated as the infection might be in the mild stage, implying that they can be potential spreaders of the disease.

Measures to kill the microbes on the ship upon return to the mainland:

The ship cannot be disposed of, but it might not be used for some time. It should be withdrawn from the fleet to keep the population safe from the virus. Also, decontamination and disinfection of the entire ship with disinfectant chemicals might help kill the microbes in the ship (Tuppurainen, 2018).

References

Huremović, D. (2019). Social distancing, quarantine, and isolation. In Psychiatry of pandemics (pp. 85-94). Springer, Cham.

Kaynarcalidan, O., Moreno Mascaraque, S., & Drexler, I. (2021). Vaccinia Virus: From Crude Smallpox Vaccines to Elaborate Viral Vector Vaccine Design. Biomedicines, 9(12), 1780.

Mohanty, B., Costantino, V., Narain, J., Chughtai, A. A., Das, A., & MacIntyre, C. R. (2020). Modelling the impact of a smallpox attack in India and influence of disease control measures. BMJ open, 10(12), e038480.

Nill, R. J. (2019). How to Select and Use Personal Protective Equipment. Handbook of Occupational Safety and Health, 469-494.

Tuppurainen, E. S. (2018). Decontamination and Disinfection. In Lumpy Skin Disease (pp. 103-105). Springer, Cham.