Reports of Spanish nurse Teresa Romero's condition taking a turn for the worst has led to a renewed sense of fear for the Ebola virus as people in the country become increasingly wary of the disease. Additionally, seven more of Romero's contacts have also been quarantined at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid. All of them being monitored for signs and symptoms associated to Ebola.
Romero was part of the response team that treated the two Spanish priests who were evacuated from West Africa after having been diagnosed with the deadly disease. The nurse is now the first person in Spain to be positively diagnosed with the Ebola virus outside of West Africa. She has already admitted to possibly touching her face with the protective gloves that she used for cleaning one of the infected patients rooms. This piece of information has generated concern within the international community about the country's alleged lack of training about how to properly handle Ebola cases.
In addition to this case in Spain, there have already been other reports of the virus infecting other people in two other parts of Europe. On Thursday, a British man died in Macedonia after showing symptoms associated to Ebola. However, hospital officials say that he never tested positive for the virus. The hotel where he had been staying at was subsequently sealed off by the authorities, and the rest of the guests being held under close observation. In Prague, a patient is also being held in isolation at the Bulovka hospital because he has exhibited symptoms of the Ebola. The 56-year-old Czech man had recently been to Liberia. Recently, health officials from Saxony in Germany had likewise confirmed that a third Ebola patient is being flown into the country after being infected with the virus in Liberia. Two other cases have already been flown into the country in recent weeks. The Sudanese man will be treated at the St. George clinic in Leipzig, one of the seven German facilities that is properly equipped and capable of handling infectious cases.
With the escalating number of Ebola cases outside of West Africa, authorities from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the threat is evocative of the AIDS scenario. Director Tom Frieden said, "I would say that in the 30 years since I have been working in public health, the only thing like this has been AIDS, and we have to work now so that this is not the world next AIDS."
