Wednesday 5 November 2014

Teresa Romero, Spain's Ebola nurse, heads home today

Teresa Romero, the 44-year-old nursing assistant considered to be the first to catch Ebola outside Africa, has received the all-clear from doctors and will be heading home on Wednesday.


Romero caught the virus while caring for Manuel García Viejo, one of the two missionaries infected with Ebola while treating patients in West Africa.  Viejo had been repatriated to Spain and died shortly after arrival in the country.

Romero was kept in isolation at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid from October 6th and has, with the help of doctors, managed to both survive and recover from the serious virus.

Dr. Jose Ramon Arribas, head of the hospital's infectious diseases unit, said as a press conference on October 20th,"The criteria set by the World Health Organization for curing the Ebola virus have been fulfilled. She is now cured."

There has been a further precautionary period of observation since then but she has now completely recovered from the virus. Romero told staff at the hospital that she is planning to visit her home town of Becerreá, near Lugo in the north-west of Spain.

While Romero has recovered completely, lawyers are finalizing a complaint against the Department of Health for the killing of Excalibur, the family dog, that was put down as a precautionary measure once Romero had been diagnosed with Ebola. Romero's husband, Javier Limón, said when leaving the hospital after completing a period of quarantine, Javier Rodriguez of the health department had killed his pet, something he saw as "a performance" and not a sacrifice.

Spanish Sources:

Telecinco
El Pais

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