Health authorities confirm the first European to be infected with the strain which has killed more than 1,000 people has died.10:40am UK, Tuesday
A Spanish priest who contracted ebola while working in Liberia has died in hospital, health authorities in Madrid have confirmed.
Father Miguel Pajares was the first European infected by a strain of the virus that has killed more than 1,000 people in West Africa.
He was airlifted from Liberia on August 7 after becoming infected while working for a non-governmental organisation there.
The 75-year-old was flown to Spain for treatment with his co-worker Juliana Bohi, a nun who has since tested negative for the disease.
Fr Parajes had been in quarantine in Madrid’s Carlos III Hospital Spain’s Health Ministry said Fr Pajares was being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp, manufactured by U.S. company Mapp Biopharmaceutical.
Two US aid workers infected by the disease have shown some signs of improvements since being given the drug.[eap_ad_2]
Fr Pajares was part of a Catholic order at St Joseph’s Hospital in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.
A Congolese nun died at the hospital over the weekend, days after its director also passed away.
The hospital has since been closed because of the outbreak.
The US has approved a request for sample doses of ZMapp to be sent to Liberia, initially to treat doctors infected with the virus, Liberia’s presidency said.
A panel of medical experts has ruled that it is ethical for infected patients to be treated with experimental drugs such as ZMapp, the World Health Organisation said.
The UN health agency said in a statement: “In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, and provided certain conditions are met, the panel reached consensus that it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention.” [eap_ad_3]