MADRID (AP) — Health officials in Spain are scrambling to contain the Ebola virus, quarantining four people at a Madrid hospital where a nursing assistant got infected and even getting a court order to kill the woman’s dog.
The first case of Ebola transmitted outside Africa is raising questions about how prepared wealthier countries really are. Spanish health workers are complaining that they lack the training and equipment to handle the virus.
Meanwhile, medical officials in the United States are retraining hospital staff and fine-tuning infection control procedures after the mishandling of a critically ill Liberian man in Texas, who might have exposed many others to the virus after a hospital sent him away.
In Africa, the U.S. military is preparing to open a 25-bed mobile hospital for health care workers with Ebola, before building 17 promised 100-bed Ebola Treatment Units in Liberia. The virus has taken an especially devastating toll on health care workers, sickening or killing more than 370 in the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where doctors and nurses were already in short supply.
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146-c-20-(Alan Clendenning, AP correspondent)-“protect this nurse”-AP correspondent Alan Clendenning reports public health officials in Spain are facing criticism over the infection of a health worker who was helping to care for an Ebola patient in Madrid. ((actual cut length is :14 seconds) (7 Oct 2014)
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148-c-20-(Alan Clendenning, AP correspondent)-“finish their investigation”-AP correspondent Alan Clendenning reports Spanish health authorities are hearing criticism from all sides over a nursing assistant’s Ebola infection. (7 Oct 2014)
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147-c-20-(Alan Clendenning, AP correspondent)-“from his room”-AP correspondent Alan Clendenning reports this case highlights the dangers that health care workers face in caring for Ebola patients, even within a state-of-the-art medical facility. ((actual length of this cut is :14 seconds) (7 Oct 2014)
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149-c-16-(Alan Clendenning, AP correspondent)-“of Spain’s economy”-AP correspondent Alan Clendenning reports markets have been affected by the Ebola infection and quarantines because of fears that Spain’s important tourism industry may be hurt. (7 Oct 2014)
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159-w-35-(Sagar Meghani (SAH’-gur meh-GAH’-nee), AP national security correspondent, with General David Rodriguez, commander, U.S. Africa Command)–The top U.S. general in Africa is putting a price figure on the military efforts against Ebola. AP National Security Correspondent Sagar Meghani reports from the Pentagon. (7 Oct 2014)
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152-a-09-(General David Rodriguez, commander, U.S. Africa Command, at news conference)-“a 6-month period”-General David Rodriguez, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, says the military’s Ebola mission will not be cheap. (7 Oct 2014)
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155-a-07-(General David Rodriguez, commander, U.S. Africa Command, at news conference)-“the Ebola virus”-General David Rodriguez, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, says the majority of American troops will not come into contact with Ebola patients, but those specially-trained personnel manning mobile testing labs will. (7 Oct 2014)
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153-a-08-(General David Rodriguez, commander, U.S. Africa Command, at news conference)-“get tested continually”-General David Rodriguez, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, says some American military personnel will come in contact with Ebola patients. (7 Oct 2014)
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154-a-09-(General David Rodriguez, commander, U.S. Africa Command, at news conference)-“primary skill set”-General David Rodriguez, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, says the American troops who will be in contact with Ebola patients inside mobile labs are highly trained. (7 Oct 2014)
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APPHOTO AK112: People walk by an advertising calling for financial help to fight Ebola in Africa in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. Three more people were placed under quarantine for Ebola at a Madrid hospital where a Spanish nurse became infected, authorities said Tuesday. More than 50 other possible contacts were being monitored. The nursing assistant, who had cared for a Spanish priest who died of Ebola, was the first case of Ebola being transmitted outside of West Africa, where a months-long outbreak has killed at least 3,500 people and infected at least twice as many. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki) (7 Oct 2014)
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