Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola may be clear of the disease

Initial tests on Teresa Romero return negative result for the virus following treatment in isolation unit in Madrid

The Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola after caring for two repatriated missionaries appears to have overcome the deadly disease, health authorities said on Sunday.

Teresa Romero Ramos, 44, has tested negative for Ebola for the first time since being hospitalised nearly two weeks ago, Spain’s special committee on Ebola said in a statement. The results suggest that she is now clear of all traces of the virus, but authorities noted she would be tested again in the coming hours to confirm the result.

Romero Ramos tested positive for the virus in early October, becoming the first known person in the current outbreak to contract Ebola outside of west Africa. The nurse was part of a team attending to two Spanish Ebola patients who had been evacuated from west Africa to Madrid for treatment in August and September. Both died days after returning to Madrid.

After nearly a week of complaining of a fever, Romero Ramos was brought by ambulance to a hospital in Alcorcón, in the outskirts of Madrid, where she tested positive for Ebola.

She was then placed in isolation at Madrid’s Carlos III hospital, the city’s designated hospital for treating Ebola patients. Her diagnosis set off a string of alarms across Madrid, with health authorities monitoring more than 80 people who had been in contact with the nurse prior to her diagnosis.

For the past week, health authorities had noted that Romero Ramos’ health was improving and said that the presence of the virus in her blood was diminishing. This weekend saw the nurse get out of bed for the first time since being admitted, said hospital sources, adding that her appetite had improved to the point where she was asking for ham and chorizo. Romero Ramos was treated with a serum containing antibodies from Ebola survivors and anti-viral drugs.

She remains in quarantine and will likely need to spend another three weeks in hospital in order to recover and ensure that the virus does not reappear.

Another 15 patients, including Romero Ramos’ husband, remain in isolation in the same hospital. None of them have shown any symptoms of Ebola to date. On Thursday, a man who had travelled from Nigeria and a missionary recently returned from Liberia were admitted to the Carlos III hospital with fever. Both tested negative for Ebola.