The Latest: Ebola Can Live Outside Body for 50 Days?

Having had to dress in what could be considered hazmat gear for a patient (AIDS/HepC) when I was in nursing school, I knew that something was wrong somewhere in these tales of medical personnel being infected. Anyone with an iota of concentration would have felt the wetness and scrubbed down before touching a mucus membrane (eye, nose, etc.)

That left the virus living outside the body on a dry surface. As of yesterday, the longest amount of time listed as feasible was six hours. This would still involve some negligence on the part of nursing, etc., staff, but is more easily understood.

Today a new research study has stated the virus can live up to fifty days on a dry surface when temperatures are under 40 degrees. That probably wouldn't apply to most hospital settings, but it does give us some insight on how some of these patients contracted the disease while remaining adamant they had not touched a patient (Cameraman Ashoka Mukpo).

Has this UK study been confirmed? Not yet. It's at this point only food for thought.

More food for thought. Viruses and bacteria usually live for hours or even days on doorknobs. Hammered brass (with those small indentations) are the worst offenders. Flu season is almost upon us. Take care!


Nurse Nan