The deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has reportedly found its
way to Europe through Spain after a nurse who treated a victim of the
disease in Madrid tested Ebola-positive.
This was made known on Monday by the Spanish health minister, Ana Mato, who also revealed that the nurse is the first person in the current outbreak known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa continent, CNN reports.
According Mato, the nurse was among the team that treated Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, who died on September 25, 2014, in the hospital Carlos III de Madrid after catching Ebola in Sierra Leone.
The health minister said the woman developed symptoms on September 30, adding that she was not hospitalized until this week because her only symptom was a fever.
“We are working in coordination to give the best care to the patient and to guarantee the safety of all citizens,” Mato said.
The health official assured that the nurse was in a stable condition as she had been admitted to hospital in Alcorcon, near Madrid. He said doctors had isolated the emergency treatment room because of the patient. He further revealed that the infection was confirmed by two tests.
The health minister also disclosed that an investigation was under way to find everyone the nurse may have had contact with while contagious. Mato said there have been no other known cases so far.
It would be recalled that 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.
Meanwhile, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit by the outbreak. According to World Health Organisation, WHO, 3439 people have died of the virus while there have been 7492 confirmed cases so far.
In a reaction to the current outbreak in the United States, the White House on Monday revealed that it is not considering a ban on travellers from affected countries although the state’s health officials had earlier said people arriving in the US from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra screening at airports.
This was made known on Monday by the Spanish health minister, Ana Mato, who also revealed that the nurse is the first person in the current outbreak known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa continent, CNN reports.
According Mato, the nurse was among the team that treated Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, who died on September 25, 2014, in the hospital Carlos III de Madrid after catching Ebola in Sierra Leone.
The health minister said the woman developed symptoms on September 30, adding that she was not hospitalized until this week because her only symptom was a fever.
“We are working in coordination to give the best care to the patient and to guarantee the safety of all citizens,” Mato said.
The health official assured that the nurse was in a stable condition as she had been admitted to hospital in Alcorcon, near Madrid. He said doctors had isolated the emergency treatment room because of the patient. He further revealed that the infection was confirmed by two tests.
The health minister also disclosed that an investigation was under way to find everyone the nurse may have had contact with while contagious. Mato said there have been no other known cases so far.
It would be recalled that 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.
Meanwhile, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit by the outbreak. According to World Health Organisation, WHO, 3439 people have died of the virus while there have been 7492 confirmed cases so far.
In a reaction to the current outbreak in the United States, the White House on Monday revealed that it is not considering a ban on travellers from affected countries although the state’s health officials had earlier said people arriving in the US from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra screening at airports.
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