A Spanish priest died of the Ebola virus in a Madrid hospital Tuesday morning, just days after he had been evacuated by air from Liberia for treatment with an experimental drug, health officials said.
Rev. Miguel Pajares, a 75-year-old missionary, was being treated in a special isolation unit of Madrid's Carlos III Hospital, where he had arrived Thursday after being flown out of Liberia in a Spanish Air Force medical jet. On Saturday, Spain's Ministry of Health Services announced that it had approved, on an exceptional basis, an import permit for ZMapp, an experimental Ebola drug that has also been given to two infected Americans. The ministry said the drug had been delivered immediately to the hospital where Father Pajares was undergoing treatment.
Spanish health officials had said on Thursday that Father Pajares was in a "stable clinical condition." But authorities subsequently stopped offering updates on his condition, at the priest's request.
Spanish state-owned news agency EFE quoted people attending to Father Pajares saying that the priest experienced breathing problems and a marked decline in his vital signs in the hours preceding his death. A hospital spokeswoman said the priest died at 9:28 a.m. Tuesday.
"We are sorry," said Javier Pajares, a nephew of the priest, told the Madrid daily El Pais. "We had hopes that he'd get better. The important thing is that the news has served to spread the word about what's happening in Africa, and it's important that the message of Miguel remains as a testimony of the mission he served."
The priest's body was cremated, without an autopsy being performed, to avoid the risk of contamination, EFE reported.
Ebola, whose symptoms can begin with fever and nausea and progress to internal bleeding, has been known to kill up to 90% of those infected. It spreads through contact with bodily fluids.
Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people since the current outbreak emerged from the forests of Guinea in December to February, according to the WHO. The virus has likely sickened at least an additional 1,711 people.
Source:Wall Street Journal
BE PREPARED!!!
@folabright
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