Teresa Romero treated two Ebola patients in a hospital in Madrid
The
Spanish nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside
West Africa has now tested negative for the virus, the Spanish
government says,
The result suggests Teresa Romero, 44, is no longer infected -
although a second test is required before she can be declared free of
Ebola. Ms Romero contracted the virus when treating two infected patients in a Madrid hospital earlier this month.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people across West Africa.
Ms Romero tested positive for the virus on 6 October, after she treated two missionaries who had been repatriated from West Africa. The missionaries later died from the virus.
Ms Romero has said she might have become infected when she removed her protective suit.
A doctor in Madrid said she may have touched her face with her gloves after treating one of the missionaries.
Quarantine
Health workers in Madrid wore protective suits to treat Ms Romero
Ms Romero has been treated at Carlos III hospital in Madrid,
and was reportedly given a human serum containing antibodies from Ebola
survivors.A government statement on Sunday said that a blood test appeared to show that the virus was no longer in her body.
She would be given a second test overnight, the statement said, adding that her health was "developing favourably".
Fifteen other people, including Ms Romero's husband, remain under observation in quarantine, but have not shown any symptoms so far, the hospital said.
The incubation period for Ebola can last from two days to three weeks.
Liberia President Johnson Sirleaf on BBC Newshour: "The time for talking or theorising is over"
In a "letter to the world" commissioned by and broadcast on the BBC, she said the disease "respects no borders", and every country had to do all it could to help fight it.
The fight against Ebola "requires a commitment from every nation that has the capacity to help - whether that is with emergency funds, medical supplies or clinical expertise", she said.
"We all have a stake in the battle against Ebola," she added. "It is the duty of all of us, as global citizens, to send a message that we will not leave millions of West Africans to fend for themselves."
- Avoid direct contact with sick patients as the virus is spread through contaminated body fluids
- Wear goggles to protect eyes
- Clothing and clinical waste should be incinerated and any medical equipment that needs to be kept should be decontaminated
- People who recover from Ebola should abstain from sex or use condoms for three months
How Ebola attacks
What virus has hit - in maps
Uncertainty over figures