victim of Ebola in Madrid has tested positive for the disease.
The nurse is said to be the first person in the current outbreak known
to have contracted Ebola outside Africa.
Health Minister Ana Mato said the woman was part of the team that
treated Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, who died of the virus on
25 September.
Some 3,400 people have died in the outbreak - mostly in West Africa.
The Spanish nurse is in a stable condition, Reuters quoted health
officials as saying. She started to feel ill last week when she was on
holiday.
The nurse was admitted to hospital in Alcorcon, near Madrid, on Monday
morning with a high fever, Ms Mato said.
Doctors isolated the emergency treatment room.
The infection was confirmed by two tests, the minister said.
Manuel Garcia Viejo died in the hospital Carlos III de Madrid after
catching Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Another Spanish priest, Miguel Pajares, died in August after
contracting the virus in Liberia.
Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who
has the virus and the only way to stop an outbreak is to isolate those
who are infected.
There have been nearly 7,500 confirmed infections worldwide, with
officials saying the figure is likely to be much higher in reality.
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit.
Celebrations in West Africa for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha are
being badly affected by the Ebola outbreak, with many public places
deserted this weekend.
Earlier health officials said people arriving in the US from
Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra
screening at airports.
But the White House said on Monday it was not considering a ban on
travellers from such countries, according to Reuters news agency.
It comes as the US tries to limit the spread from its first confirmed
case, a Liberian in Dallas.
Thomas Duncan's condition is critical but stable, Reuters quoted
doctors in the state of Texas as saying on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment