Health officials in Madrid say three more people are in the hospital on suspicion of contracting Ebola. The news comes a day after a nurse who treated two Ebola patients at a city hospital became infected with the disease. The nurse is now being treated with a drip using antibodies from those previously infected with the virus, Reuters reports. Approximately 22 contacts of the woman, often referred to as the Spanish Ebola nurse, have been identified and are being monitored, Madrid health officials told a press conference on Tuesday. The officials added that the hospitalized include the nurses husband, another health worker and a traveler who had spent time in one of the affected West African countries. The 44-year-old woman is the first known person to have become infected with Ebola outside of Africa during the current outbreak. Other cases in Spain – or more recently, the US – involved individuals contracting the disease while in Africa and then traveling abroad.The nurse had reportedly helped treat a Spanish missionary and a Spanish priest, both of whom came down with the virus while in West Africa and later died after returning to Spain. As of October 3, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a total of 7,493 Ebola infections worldwide. At least 3,439 people are estimated to have died after contracting the disease. There is currently no cure or human-safe vaccine for Ebola, which is spread via bodily fluids. Initial symptoms of fever and sore throat develop into vomiting, diarrhea and profuse internal and external bleeding. Victims may die of multiple organ failure within days of first contact, with some strains killing up to 90 percent of sufferers.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 11:06:23 +0000
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