Hot Zone Part 2

By Varun Gunda
If I were the CEO of a monkey exportation company, I would make sure to have
all my employees wear safety gloves and a breathing mask when they are handling with
the monkeys to make sure they are not contaminated if the monkey is infected with the
virus. Also, they will have to make sure to keep a couple of monkeys per room instead of
placing many of them together in order to prevent cross contamination. For the same
purpose, employees will be required to wash their gloves or get a new pair when handling
with the monkeys.
However, if an outbreak did occur, then they would be required to wear a
spacesuit and take the sick monkeys far away from the rest of the healthy monkeys to a
separate room to prevent contamination. Then, they would have to disinfect all of the
rooms that include the healthy monkeys with bleach in order to kill any viruses or
bacteria that maybe causing harm to the monkeys. Blood samples will be taken from the
sick monkeys and be tested to find out what has been causing the problem. Then, the
unhealthy and healthy monkeys would have to be euthanized in order to prevent further
spreading of the virus. The proper technique for euthanasia would be to inject the
monkeys with a lethal drug that would cause no pain. Public relations will be addressed
by putting this information on the news and the media by city officials. They will inform
whether or not the public should be worried about the issue if there is any. Also, they
would have to inform health organizations near the area.
The 4 biosafety levels are biosafety level 0, biosafety level 2, biosafety level 3,
and biosafety level 4. Some lab equipment that is used in biosafety labs include test
tubes, gloves, safety goggles, and lab coats. In biosafety level 0, microorganisms that
pose a minimal threat to the laboratory workers and the environment. Safety precautions
in this level include wearing a lab coat, safety goggles, and latex gloves. Special practices
in this level are that work is done openly on a wooden bench, the laboratory is supervised
by personnel with experience in microbiology, no special containment equipment is used,
and hands need to be washed after the lab. Microorganisms that are used in this level
include nonpathogenic Escherichia

coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In biosafety level 2, practices and procedures are suitable for work involving
agents of moderate potential risk to personnel and the environment. Safety precautions in
this level include the use of negative air pressure, face shields, doing all lab procedures in

a safety cabinet, and the use of sealed rotors. Special practices in this level include that
access to the laboratory is limited while its in use, extreme precautions are taken with
contaminated sharp items, and that procedures in which infectious aerosols or splashes
are conducted are done in safety cabinets. Microorganisms for this level include
Staphylococcus aureus,

Salmonella, and Plasmodium falciparum.

In biosafety level 3, practices and procedures are suitable for work involving
indigenous or exotic agents where the potential for infection is real and the disease may
have serious or lethal consequences. Safety precautions in this level include the use of
negative air pressure, giving vaccinations to lab personnel, access to lab is limited to
those who use it, and lab gowns are required to be decontaminated after use. Special
practices in this level include that vaccinations must be given before entering the lab,
laboratory personnel must have specialized training in order to work in this level, and a
laboratory-specific biosafety manual must be drafted which details how the laboratory
will operate in compliance with all safety requirements. Microorganisms for this level
include

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Yellow fever virus, and West Nile virus.

Biosafety level 4 is the highest level of biosafety precautions, and is appropriate
for work with agents that could easily be aerosol-transmitted within the laboratory and
cause fatal disease in humans for which there are no available vaccines or treatments.
Safety precautions in this level include the use of negative air pressure, street clothes
must be removed and personnel must wear full laboratory clothing, and must go through
a chemical shower for decontamination upon leaving the containment area. Special
practices in this level include that the lab must be constructed in a different building,
laboratory personnel must have specialized training and have shown proficient use with
agents to work at this level, and all materials including trash must be decontaminated
before leaving

the lab. Microorganisms for this level include Ebola virus, Marburg virus,
and Lassa virus.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level
http://www.cdc.gov/training/QuickLearns/biosafety/
https://www.absa.org/pdf/OSHABSLFactSheet.pdf