Spain is officially free of Ebola

WHO makes declaration 42 days after the second Spanish victim is released

Teresa Romero on release

MADRID -- Teresa Romero, who survived a critical bout of Ebola, left her hospital confinement 42 days ago this week, while the repatriated Medicins Sans Frontieres volunteer doctor who had pricked herself accidentally with a possibly contagious needle has tested negative. She is still in hospital but not quarantined. These and other factors have allowed the World Health Organization to officially declare Spain as free from the deadly virus.

Leaders of the world: you MUST do better against Ebola

"Let's not allow the world leaders to
turn their backs on it"

BRISBANE (Australia) -- The G20 summit meeting  is taking place right now. This is why Save The Children, Oxfam, Plan España and Amnesty International Spain, among others, are urging the world leaders of the 20 richest countries put aside the resources necessary to battle Ebola with greater speed and efficiency. Some 166,000 signatures have already been gathered.
You can get full information and sign the petition here: http://www.savethechildren.net/ebola. It will take you just a few seconds, please do it.

Teresa Romero is free of Ebola

Excellent news: the nurse who contracted the disease after voluntarily attending to the two Spanish missionaries who died from it, is free of Ebola. She underwent a second test yesterday and it was announced that there are no longer any signs of it in her system. Doctors at the Carlos III hospital say that she must now take plenty of rest and build up her strength.

Ebola in Spain: How Soraya took command

MADRID – We're very pleased to hear that senior nurse Teresa Romero, Europe’s first Ebola victim, has survived the first fortnight of having the virus diagnosed – there is a much better survival rate among those who do. While still in the special unit at the Carlos III hospital’s special Ebola unit, she has spoken over the phone to her husband and is as active as she can be. We wish her well and can but thank her for volunteering for a risky job. But this item is not about her; it is about how the Government has handled the emergency. Accused of mishandling procedures after the deaths of two missionaries, and Teresa being practically insulted by Health Councillor of the Community of Madrid Javier Rodriguez, for doing so (he has since apologised but has not resigned), the matter was handled by the Minister for Health, Ana Mato, who did not appear to do a particularly good job – then Soraya Sáenz de Santa María Antón took over.

More Ebola cases in quarantine in Madrid

(Date: Thursday, Oct 09) MADRID – Spanish radio, RNE, Cadena Ser, and he BBC report this morning that there is a group of some six people under observation for the Ebola virus, though none are confirmed. In the meantime the matter has taken a political turn (as usual here), with nurses unions accusing the hospital authorities and the Minister for Health, Ana Mato, whose resignation is being demanded by the opposition parties, of bad management. The unions say that Teresa, the first person in Europe to contract the virus outside Africa, is not at fault when the suit and gloves she was wearing did not meet established requirements.  Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is standing behind his minister. Others are taking the matter to court. Brussels, in the meantime, has woken up and is trying to expand its control efforts at European borders, while the US is establishing more intensive controls, including taking temperatures at their major airports, especially those with flights to and from Africa.

The possibility of Ebola in Algeciras and Tarifa

An immigration centre in the Campo
de Gibraltar (AFP)

(Date: Wednesday, Oct 08) ALGECIRAS – Last night, Wednesday, there were rumours flying about that there were several cases under suspicion of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa carrying the feared Ebola virus. A survey among the various places the immigrants that come over on flimsy boats are given refuge in Algeciras and Tarifa, as well as local and national media, confirmed that there had been some suspicion but no confirmed cases. It isn’t surprising that suspicion would arise in the two towns, where these centres are overwhelmed at this time of year – summer is the preferred time of year to risk your life crossing the straits in what often amounts to nothing more than

Hospital staff say ‘anti-Ebola’ suits did not meet specifications

MADRID --  Staff at the Carlos III hospital, where the only specifically Ebola unit in the country exists and where the two Spanish missionaries died, this week accused the health authorities of permitting the use of the special suits used at the unit did not meet the security specifications they need. According to staff representatives, regulations, referring to cases such as these should be at Level 4, that is, completely impermeable and autonomous breathing facilities. They say that the suits they were issued were at Level 2. In response, the hospital’s spokesperson, Yolanda Fuentes, denies that security measures were not met. “The suits meet procedural requirements perfectly, as well as the protective measures required for this illness,” she said. As can be seen in the image above, supplied by hospital staff, the suit has no independent breathing apparatus, the gloves are latex, tied on with adhesive tape

Europe’s first Ebola case transferred to specialised hospital

MADRID – The nurse who attended missionary Manuel García Viejo, who died of the Ebola virus on September 25, was last night moved to the special isolation ward at the Carlos III hospital ‘as a precaution’. It was confirmed yesterday afternoon that she had contracted the virus and has been in isolation ever since. As a nursing auxiliary, the woman, whose name hasn’t been divulged to the media, worked at the Laz – Carlos III hospital, where she now is being submitted to further tests. Spanish news reports say that she had had direct contact with García Viejo twice, which is when she reportedly contracted the viral disease. Her husband and recent contacts are being monitored, including 30 other medical staff at the hospital.