Three more people have been quarantined overnight in a Madrid hospital on Thursday as Spain tries to contain the spread of Ebola from a nurse who was diagnosed with the dangerous disease earlier this week, local health authorities report. María Teresa Romero Ramos has tested positive for Ebola on Monday, after treating a severely ill missionary in the Carlos III hospital, the New York Times writes.
There are currently 80 people monitored in Spain to see if they have contracted the disease. At the Carlos III hospital, designated by the local authorities to treat Ebola-infected patients, there are currently six people in quarantine, but she is the first to have tested positive for the disease so far.
The medical staff involved in treating Ebola patients at the hospital has been severely criticized due to the nurse’s infection, and investigations are under way to determine what went wrong during the patients’ treatment. This puts pressure on the Spanish government led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoi, who has refused to dismiss his health minister, Ana Mato, over the Ebola cases in the country.
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In the meantime the health of the infected nurse has started to worsen – according to an official of the Madrid hospital she now needs to be helped with her breathing. Two doctors who have treated her have also been admitted for observation, raising the number of quarantined patients to six. Neither of the two doctors recently admitted has shown any symptoms of the disease yet. Also, the dog belonging to ms. Ramos, a mixed breed called Excalibur, has been put to sleep by the Spanish authorities, despite a massive social media campaign and severe criticism from animal rights activists. The Madrid authorities have ordered the dog’s death on Tuesday, as a preventive measure to stop the further spread of the infection.