Spanish nurse appears clear of Ebola virus
Test shows immune system of first person outside West Africa to test positive has eliminated infection from her body.
A Spanish nurse who became the first person outside of West Africa to test positive for the deadly Ebola virus, is now clear of all traces of the disease, according to authorities in Spain.
A blood test on Sunday revealed that Teresa Romero’s immune system had eliminated the virus from her body, and she was clear of all traces of the disease nearly two weeks after she was hospitalised.
“Three tests carried out today, including that on [the nurse], are negative,” a source at Madrid’s Carlos III hospital told the AFP news agency.
Manuel Cuenca, microbiology director at the Carlos III health-care complex, said a second test was planned in the coming hours to confirm Romero’s recovery.
Romero, 44, had treated two patients who died of Ebola at the Carlos III hospital.
The first, Miguel Pajares, contracted the disease in Liberia and died on August 12 despite having been treated with the experimental drug ZMapp.
The second was Manuel Garcia Viejo who died, aged 69, on September 25, after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone.
Ebola summit in Germany
Separately, Germany’s foreign minister has suggested that the EU could send a civilian mission to West Africa to help combat the Ebola outbreak.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a gathering of health experts in Berlin on Sunday that the 28-nation bloc needed to become faster and more effective in sharing its capabilities in the fight against the virus.
Steinmeier said: “There can no longer be any doubt today that cross-border health risks call for new forms of international cooperation.
“If we do not act, the consequences will be unforeseeable, also for us here in Germany.
“We have received dramatic cries for help from the region in recent weeks.
“It is clear to us that we cannot simply abandon these people and we will not do so.”
He said the EU should consider setting up a pool of medical and logistical experts to help in future crises worldwide.
The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 4,500 people this year, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and is spread through close contact with bodily fluids.