WHO: Spain’s Ebola Case Won’t Be Last in Europe
By JORGE SAINZ and MARIA CHENG
ABCNews.com
Oct 8, 2014
A Spanish nursing assistant may be the first person in the ongoing epidemic to catch Ebola outside of Africa, but she probably won’t be the last, experts warn.
Still, even as more people with Ebola arrive on European shores, the continent’s sophisticated health systems, legions of doctors and nurses and preparedness plans will probably squash any big outbreaks of the lethal virus.
Extremely high vigilance is needed when caring for people with Ebola, so doctors say even small lapses in infection control can allow for the accidental spread of the virus to health staff.
Dr. German Ramirez of the Carlos III hospital said the nurse, Teresa Romero, remembers she once touched her face with her glove after leaving the quarantine room where an Ebola victim was being treated.
“It appears we have found the origin” of Romero’s infection, Ramirez said, but he cautioned the investigation was not complete.
Romero was said to be in stable condition Wednesday. Health authorities in Madrid have been accused of not following protocol and poorly preparing health workers for dealing with Ebola, but some health officials said it was almost inevitable.
“What happened in Spain is unfortunate but given the size of the outbreak in West Africa, we can expect to see more cases in different countries, including in Europe,” said Dr. Isabelle Nuttall, a director at the World Health Organization tasked with helping countries prepare for Ebola. West Africa is currently battling the biggest-ever outbreak of Ebola, which doubles in size roughly every three weeks.
WHO earlier issued guidelines for all countries on how to prepare for the arrival of suspected and confirmed cases and the agency doesn’t see any reason to change that advice in the aftermath of the Spanish infection, Nuttall said.
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