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Ebola outbreak: Husband of Spanish nurse placed in quarantine as 22 contacts identified Ebola outbreak: Husband of Spanish nurse placed in quarantine as 22 contacts identified
(about 1 hour later)
The husband of a Spanish nurse who became the first person known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa is now in quarantine while 22 other contacts have been identified. Four people are now in hospital in Spain after a nurse in the country became the first person known to have contracted Ebola outside Africa.
The nurse, who tested positive for the virus on Monday, had helped treat two Spanish missionaries who died after returning from the region with the disease. The nurse, her husband, who is showing no sign of the disease, and two others are being monitored in hospital in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.
Spanish health officials have today said the nurse's husband and a second nurse who also treated one of the priests are now in quarantine. It has emerged that the nurse, who had helped treat two Spanish missionaries who died after returning from the region with the disease, first complained of feeling ill a week before she was diagnosed with Ebola on Monday.
Public health director Mercedes Vinuesa told a parliamentary committee: “The husband is already in hospital and is being monitored so that he can have a quarantine situation with better monitoring.” The 40-year-old nurse, who has not been identified but is said to be in a stable condition, had up to 30 colleagues who also treated the missionaries who died of Ebola at the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid. The 40-year-old is understood to have contacted health workers after complaining of a low fever on September 30. She was only given tests for Ebola however when she turned up at hospital with a high fever on Monday, The Telegraph has reported.
Authorities have also said some 22 people have been identified as having had contact with the nurse, Sky News has reported. Meanwhile, 22 people who came into contact with the nurse are also being monitored, health officials have said. They have not been isolated but they are having their temperature taken twice a day to check for signs of infection.
Spanish Ebola patient, Catholic priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, died after being repatriated from Sierra Leone on 22 September 2014 The EU has now asked Spain to explain how the nurse contracted the deadly disease, according to an AFP report.
Public health director Mercedes Vinuesa told a parliamentary committee: “The husband is already in hospital and is being monitored so that he can have a quarantine situation with better monitoring.”The 40-year-old nurse, who has not been identified but is said to be in a stable condition, had up to 30 colleagues who also treated the missionaries who died of Ebola at the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid.
A spokesman for the European Commission said the case, the first known case of Ebola spreading within a European country, would be discussed at a Health Security Committee meeting on Wednesday.A spokesman for the European Commission said the case, the first known case of Ebola spreading within a European country, would be discussed at a Health Security Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Spanish Ebola patient, Catholic priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, died after being repatriated from Sierra Leone on 22 September 2014
“The priority remains to find out what actually happened,” he said.“The priority remains to find out what actually happened,” he said.
The nurse is understood to have gone on holiday immediately after the second of the missionaries she had been caring for died on September 25. It was not clear where she had gone on holiday. Officials said they were still investigating how the nurse was infected.
According to Spanish officials, the nurse started to feel ill on September 30 and was diagnosed with Ebola on Monday. She went on holiday after the second of the missionaries she had been caring for died on September 25, although, they stressed, she had not left Madrid.
Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, said the Spanish nurse should not have contracted the deadly disease if appropriate containment and control measures had been taken.Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, said the Spanish nurse should not have contracted the deadly disease if appropriate containment and control measures had been taken.
“It will be crucial to find out what went wrong in this case so necessary measures can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again,” he told Reuters.“It will be crucial to find out what went wrong in this case so necessary measures can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again,” he told Reuters.
Local media in Spain yesterday reported that staff at the Madrid hospital where the nurse became infected had claimed their protective suits did not meet health and safety requirements – though this has yet to be substantiated.Local media in Spain yesterday reported that staff at the Madrid hospital where the nurse became infected had claimed their protective suits did not meet health and safety requirements – though this has yet to be substantiated.
Additional reporting by Reuters