Spanish nurse becomes first to contract Ebola outside of West Africa

A Spanish health-care worker has been diagnosed with Ebola at the Madrid hospital in what is the first case of a health worker becoming infected outside of West Africa.

Spanish health officials have said the infected nurse treated Manuel Garcia, a priest repatriated to Madrid with Ebola last month.

Health minister Ana Mato told a news conference that an emergency protocol had been put in place and authorities were working to establish the source of the contagion

Hospital officials said people who had come into contact with the nurse were being monitored, though they had no knowledge of any further cases at present.

The nurse began to feel sick on September 30th they said.

The diagnosis adds a new dimension to the Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 3,400 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. A Liberian man is hospitalized with the virus in Dallas after travelling there from the Liberian capital Monrovia, the first time the virus has been inadvertently carried out of the West Africa.

“The concern in European hospitals where there’s good infection control is minimal,” said David Heymann, professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “It may spread to a few people at the start, but it shouldn’t go further. I don’t anticipate any major outbreaks in Europe.”

Obama

US president Barack Obama said today his administration was working on additional protocols for screening airplane passengers to identify people who might have

Ebola and would step up efforts to make medical professionals aware of what to do if they encounter a case. Mr Obama told reporters he also planned to step up pressure on large countries, which he did not identify by name, to contribute aid to West African nations struggling to contain the worst outbreak of Ebola on record.

US AIRLINES

A US airlines trade group said it would meet with health and safety officials today to discuss whether additional screenings for Ebola could improve on measures already in place to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

The meeting will consider whether adding screenings anywhere in the world might help, Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based group Airlines for America, said

Airlines for America “members that fly to affected countries remain in steady contact with government agencies and health officials, and have procedures in place to monitor and quickly respond to potential health concerns,” Day said in a statement.

Reuters