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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A Mount Pleasant doctor is taking a robotic decontamination device that works against the deadly Ebola virus to western Africa.
Multiple media outlets reported the device invented by Dr. Jeff Deal and his brother looks like a vertical fluorescent light fixture. It emits ultraviolet light powerful enough to decontaminate rooms of things like E. coli and staph. Recent Army tests show it also works on Ebola.
The device is remote controlled and can only decontaminate equipment and rooms because it can also destroy human DNA. It's already used in about 300 hospitals in this country.
The Memphis, Tennessee, company that owns the patent is donating two of the robots. Deal is to arrive in Africa on Wednesday to help train medical personnel in using the devices.
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