Ebola virus disease cases in Spain
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Map of Spain
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| Disease | Ebolavirus |
|---|---|
| First case | 6 October 2014 |
| Confirmed cases | 1 |
In 2014, Ebola virus disease in Spain occurred due to two patients with cases of the disease contracted during the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa; they were medically evacuated. A failure in infection control in the treatment of the second patient led to an isolated infection of Ebola virus disease in a health worker in Spain itself. The health worker survived her Ebola infection, and has since been declared infection-free.
On 5 August 2014, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God confirmed that Brother Miguel Pajares, who had been volunteering in Liberia, had become infected. He was evacuated to Spain on 6 August 2014, and subsequently died on 12 August.
On 21 September it was announced that Brother Manuel García Viejo, another Spanish citizen who was medical director at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Lunsar, had been evacuated to Spain from Sierra Leone after being infected with the virus. His death was announced on 25 September. Both of these cases were treated at the Hospital Carlos III in Madrid.
In October 2014, María Teresa Romero Ramos, an auxiliary nurse who had cared for Manuel García Viejo at the Hospital Carlos III had become unwell and on 6 October tested positive for Ebola at her local hospital in Alcorcón, the Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón. A second test confirmed the diagnosis, making this the first confirmed case of Ebola transmission outside Africa. Following testing, she was transferred to the Hospital Carlos III in Madrid for treatment.
As of October 7, 50 contacts were being monitored, with 7 kept in isolation at the Hospital Carlos III, and an investigation was under way.
On 7 October, Madrid's regional government got a court order to euthanize Romero's pet dog, Excalibur, concerned that it posed a risk as a reservoir host. By the afternoon there were over 30 animal rights activists who had barricaded the apartment to prevent officials from removing the dog. A number of online petitions were started rallying to save the dog, garnering hundreds of thousands of indications of support. Ramos' quarantined husband, Javier, called on a veterinarian radio show host, and recorded a video appeal, for help to save his dog. On 8 October, Spanish authorities removed, sedated and euthanized the dog and arranged for the safe disposal of its remains.
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