14 DAY TRIAL // Figures released by the World Health Organization say that, up until this year's November 18, the ongoing Ebola epidemic had made nearly 5,500 victims in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali and the US.
What's more, the Organization says that, according to recent reports, some 15,000 people are presently battling the virus. This makes this latest Ebola outbreak the absolute worst to have until now been documented anywhere in the world.
The somewhat good news is that the US military is now doing its best to help contain the epidemic by keeping its own medical centers Ebola-free.
Thus, a crew of ultraviolet-blasting robots are currently hard at work keeping hundreds of hospitals and military medical centers around the country clean.
These are some of the coolest robots ever
Information shared with the public says that the robots in question are currently operational at 250 hospitals and 3 military medical centers in the US. Their job is to use ultraviolet to make minced meat of germs, the Ebola virus included.
As detailed by The Inquisitr, the robots use xenon, which is a non-toxic gas, to create ultraviolet rays. These rays travel as far as 10 feet (approximately 3 meters) and can destroy whatever germs they chance to encounter in just a few minutes.
The reason these robots were put to worm disinfecting hospitals and military medical centers across the country is that, when compared to traditional cleaning methods, they are way more efficient.
Hence, it is expected that they will help keep any other Ebola cases from popping up in the US, officials with the US military explain.
Mind you, these robots made their debut quite a while ago. Still, it was only recently that it was agreed on that, apart from destroying other pathogens that folks are exposed to when visiting hospitals, they could also help fight the Ebola epidemic.
“The robot is currently part of our Ebola mitigation strategy, but will be used across the hospital to combat a variety of other pathogens known to cause hospital acquired infections,” Alton Dunham, a spokesperson for the Langley Air Force Base, said in a statement.
It is understood that these Ebola-fighting robots rely on four wheels to get around. As far as looks go, the US military say that they very much resemble “Star Wars” character R2D2, except that they are taller and skinnier.
Putting the robots to work in Africa
True, several cases of Ebola disease have until now been reported in the US, and, back in October, a 42-year-old man named Thomas Eric Duncan passed away while in isolation at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
However, the fact remains that it's in West Africa that the deadly virus has until now made thousands of victims. Hence, specialists recommend that such robots be deployed in countries such as Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali as well.
The thing is that, for the time being as least, the company making them or the US military is yet to announce plans to ship a crew of such ultraviolet-blasting R2D2 wannabes to West Africa. Given the severity of the epidemic, one can only hope that they will soon change their mind.
