Active Ebola transmission in Spain! Nurse comes down with Ebola after treating patients. Yahoo/AFP

A missionary with Ebola being transported in Spain. Yahoo/AFP

The first Ebola transmission outside of Africa has occurred in Spain. Yahoo/AFP. A 40 year old nurse contracted the disease after treating one of the two Spanish missionaries that had been brought back for treatment. The nurse fell ill on the 30th of September but did not seek treatment until the 5th. Spain is now having an internal debate about the wisdom of repatriating Ebola patients. Both of the missionaries who have received treatment died shortly later. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and now Norway have all returned patients to their countries. 

My Comment:

There was always a risk of this happening which was why I was always worried about bringing patients back to the United States. What is worrying is that the nurse was sick for almost a week before she sought treatment. She could have been spreading the disease the whole time. Why wasn't there any monitoring of doctors and nurses? Why was she allowed to go on vacation? How did she not know the risk of Ebola? I know if I had been treating an Ebola patient I would go the hospital the second I felt even the slightest bit ill. 

As for the risk of a wider outbreak in Spain it is certainly possible. Spain's health department must figure out who this nurse interacted with and isolate them. That's going to be very difficult since she was in the public since the 30th. Was she at home the whole time? I kinda doubt it since the article said she was on vacation. Spain isn't saying where she was or what she was doing but this situation is horrible. It is very possible that this is the start of a very active outbreak in Spain. 

And I think it is important to ask if it is really worth it to bring people back to their home countries. I don't have the answers for that question but I think if we are going to do it we need to keep a close eye on these healthcare workers. There are the biggest risk for a wider outbreak because they spend the most time with infected patients. It would be wise to at least monitor them so if they do fall ill they can be brought to the hospital and isolated as soon as possible. There is no reason for people to be running around with the disease if we know they are at high risk.