Edition 2
(181)
www.thecourier.es
Friday, August 8, 2014
VIRUS VICTIM RETURNS Priest isolated in Madrid hospital
By ALEX TRELINSKI An elderly Spanish missionary who con tracted the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia arrived in Madrid yes terday(Thursday), becoming the first patient in the recent outbreak to be evacu ated to Europe for treatment. An Airbus A310 carrying 75yearold Roman Catholic priest, Miguel Pajares landed at the Spanish capital's Torrejon military air base yesterday morning. The priest had tested positive for Ebola at the Saint Joseph Hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia where he worked. He has been quarantined and is getting treatment from just two medical pro fessionals in what is the first case of Ebola to be treated in a Spanish hospi tal. The risk of contagion is very low, Spanish health officials have said. The priest came down with the virus after visiting the direc tor of the Order of Saint John of God hospital, who has since died of the dis ease. The military flight also evacuated Spanish nun
Juliana Bohi, who had worked at the same hospi tal. She is not known to be infected with Ebola but has nevertheless been isolated for treatment. The patients were transferred in a con voy of 14 vehicles, includ ing cars and motorbikes from the national and local police forces, and the Civil Guard. Three ambulances were also present, the driv ers of which were wearing protective masks. The patients were taken into the hospital through a side door, avoiding the main entrance, w h e r e dozens of journalists were waiting. Pajares and Bohi, who were carrying out humanitarian work in Liberia, have been put in separate iso lated rooms with negative air pressure, meaning that air from the room will not seep out. Staff will
have to enter via one door and leave via another, where they will leave their protective clothing, in case it has become contaminat ed. Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleed ing. It is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, and people who live with or care for patients are most at risk. Since breaking out earlier this year, the epidemic has claimed 932 lives and infected more than 1,700 people across West Africa, according to the World
Health Organization. Other cases have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The Valencian region health minister, Manuel Llombart, has said that con trols at local airports and ports will be “strengthened” but did not expand on what that would mean in practice. He added that the appropri ate protocol for dealing with infectious diseases like Ebola had been enacted, with eight hospitals in Alicante Province, including Torrevieja, Elche General, and Elche Vinalopó having infectious diseases units.
YO UR NE XT C O UR IE R The Courier will be published a day early next week (Thursday August 14th) because of Friday’s National Holiday.
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