Ebola Outbreak In Spain 56 Under Watch

Nurse from Madrid who became the first person to contract ebola outside of Africa is being treated with antibodies from survivors of the illness, hospital officials have revealed.
Four people, also including her husband, have been placed in quarantine at the hospital over fears they may also have the deadly virus.

The nurse was part of a medical team at the city's La Paz-Carlos III hospital that treated two Spanish missionaries who died shortly after returning from Africa with the disease.

A second nurse who also helped treat an infected priest is among the four being monitored by health workers, as is a man who arrived on a flight from Nigeria displaying symptoms.

Spain's health authorities said they had been in touch with a total of 22 people who are thought to have been in contact with the 40-year-old nurse, whose name has not been released.

They are also monitoring around 30 other members of the health care team that treated one of the missionaries.

Officials added that although the nurse began a holiday after one of the missionaries she had been caring for died on 25 September 2014, she did not leave Madrid during this time.

She began feeling ill on 30 September and was diagnosed with ebola on Monday, but is in a stable condition.

EU countries have demanded an explanation from Spain's health minister as to how the nurse caught the disease, despite all the precautions taken

A spokesman said a letter sent to the health minister sought "to obtain some clarification" from Spanish authorities, adding: "The priority remains to find out what actually happened."

Spain's health minister, Ana Mato, said an emergency protocol is in place and that authorities are working to establish the source of the contagion at the Madrid hospital.