Ebola PPE demand is high; US spend complicates issue

Demand for personal protective equipment, worn by those treating Ebola patients around the world, is at an all-time high, with manufacturers struggling to meet demand, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Not many companies make the full-body suits that have become the norm for providers to wear when treating Ebola patients, and those companies — like DuPont and Lakeland Industries — have increased production in response, adding employees or buying new machines, according to the WSJ. But the suits and other Ebola-treating equipment are still in short supply, and groups treating Ebola in West Africa call the shortage another source of stress.

Compounding the global supply and demand issue is the demand in the U.S. Though Ebola is not currently present, hospitals and even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are preparing for its possible reappearance. The CDC placed a $2.7 million Ebola PPE order earlier this month.

According to the WSJ, companies like DuPont are prioritizing orders to fill, focusing first on people in direct contact with Ebola and then hospitals trying to prepare for an Ebola patient. When the CDC placed its large Ebola PPE order, it said the order would not interfere with other orders for PPE already placed by states and hospitals in the U.S.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which started earlier this year, is still ongoing, claiming more than 5,440 lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as of Nov. 18, according to the CDC. Patients with the virus have also appeared in the U.S. and Spain, and an Italian physician who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone was recently flown to Italy for treatment, according to a report from The Telegraph.

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