Ebola: Does Workers’ Compensation Cover It?

By SPAN Insurance & Healthcare Team

Ebola, formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever is caused by a filo virus, filamentous or atube-shaped particle named after the Ebola River in Democratic Republic of Congo, from where it originated in 1976. It is a type of viral fever that affects humans and non-human primates (apes, gorillas, chimpanzees etc.). Carcasses of animals like gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos have shown traces of the virus, and partially eaten fruits and seeds (that contain saliva) dropped by bats are presumed to be the source of their infection. There are five known strains of the Ebola virus -Zaire, Sudan, Bundibugyo, Reston and Tai Forest Ebolavirus. The one causing the illness and deaths over the past few months is the Zaire strain, which was identified in 1976.

Facts and Figures:

• As on Dec 31st 2014, the number of Ebola deaths have gone up to 8004, which includes 3423 in Liberia, 2827 in Sierra Leone, 1739 in Guinea, 8 in Nigeria, 1 in USA and 6 in Mali, according to the World Health Organization. 
• Currently, there is neither a cure nor a vaccine for this virus. The treatment is isolation (to prevent its spread) and focusing on symptoms, and treat mainly with dialysis, increase fluid intake to prevent dehydration and reduce fever. 
• The mortality rate of infected people is roughly around 50 percent.

One should satisfy the below two conditions for Ebola to be compensable under workers' compensation:

1. The employee must be benefiting the employer when exposed to the illness or disease. 
2. The illness/ disease must be considered peculiar to the scope of work. i.e., it should be accidental while performing his/her duties.

Examples:

• Healthcare worker getting infected by Ebola while treating patients 
• Coal mine worker getting affected by lung diseases.

Based on the above conditions, care providers/doctors, nurses and other employees in a healthcare facility will satisfy the first condition easily, whereas the non-healthcare workers do not. Sometimes, increased exposure due to business-related travel or the endemic disease coverage under the foreign voluntary extension of a workers’ compensation policy may trigger coverage for other groups of workers as well. Here, the biggest hurdle is the second condition - “peculiar” to the work. Since Ebola is also a kind of virus, it is not considered to be peculiar in nature to the job and would be unlikely to qualify to the second condition.

But, in the case of healthcare workers, Ebola could be considered compensable under workers' compensation. Perchance Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, the two nurses who cared for an Ebola patient Mr. Thomas Eric Duncan, at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, could prove that contracting Ebola is "peculiar" to doing their job since the nurses risked exposing themselves to the virus as part of their job.

Based on the qualifying factors presented, Ebola is not likely to be claimable under workers’ compensation other than the fact that this illness has garnered intense attention in the news. It is no more occupational in nature than a non-pandemic, “no-name” flu. Unless it can be proven that the employee has an increased risk of contracting Ebola because of the peculiarity of his/her job, this virus is not occupational. Employees working in the healthcare industry may be able to prove such increased risk as they have little choice but to expose themselves to the virus as a regular part of their job. Beyond healthcare workers, not many occupations will qualify for workers’ compensation protection, if one is afflicted by Ebola.