HollyNolly: Ebola claims its first European victim: Spanish priest dies in Madrid five days after being flown out of Liberia

The Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa claimed its first European life yesterday.
Spanish priest Miguel Pajares died five days after being airlifted from Liberia to Madrid for expert care.
With the death toll climbing above 1,000 and the outbreak showing no signs of slowing, the World Health Organisation declared it ethical to use untested drugs to attempt to control the virus.
Mr Pajares, a 75-year-old missionary, caught Ebola – one of the deadliest diseases known to man – while treating patients in Liberia.

Spanish priest: Miguel Pajares died in a Madrid hospital after contracting the Ebola virus in Liberia

His condition was described as stable on arrival in Spain and it is thought he was given ZMapp, an experimental drug credited with the ‘miraculous’ recovery of two
American aid workers.
His body will be cremated today to prevent the virus spreading.
Last night, two doses of ZMapp were on their way to Liberia to treat two doctors – the first Africans to receive the drug.
The development follows concern that the antibody medicine, which is grown in tobacco plants and has not been formally tested on humans, was being reserved for use on Westerners.
The Liberian government said it was aware that the drug’s safety had not been established but that it had no option but to try using it.

Mr Pajares was working at a hospital in Liberia, which is run by a Catholic humanitarian group he is involved in

The missionary was flown back to Spain for treatment after he tested positive for the deadly virus, which is sweeping West Africa

Spanish priest struck with Ebola is bought back to Europe

Information Minister Lewis Brown told the BBC: ‘The alternative to not testing this is death, a certain death.
‘This is not even the rock and the hard place for us. We think those who have been infected should be given the chance to have that tested on them if they give their consent to do so.’
With no conventional treatment or vaccine available for Ebola, and this outbreak being the worst ever, interest in ZMapp is high.
But production is slow and with only 12 doses made, its US manufacturer says the supply is now exhausted.

Relatives of priest who died of Ebola mourn his death

When the priest first arrived in Madrid, there were claims he was on a drip and was unable to walk unaided with his condition being described as stable

Speaking before he was flown back he said: 'I'd like to return because we have a very bad experience of what's happened here

EBOLA SUFFERER RELEASED FROM WARD AFTER MAKING FULL RECOVERY

A 20-year-old man has made a full recovery after contracting Ebola.
Sulaiman Kemokai, from Kenema in Sierra Leone, spent 25 days in a ward.
Despite still feeling stiffness in his joints, he claims he is gaining strength every day.

Lucky to be alive: Sulaiman Kemokai, 20, has been released from an Ebola treatment centre after recovering

Gaining strength: Sulaiman, from Kenema, Sierra Leone, claims he is getting stronger every day

When he was brought back to Spain last week, a convoy of vehicles escorted him to the King Carlos III hospital for treatment

He was flown back to Europe on a specially adapted plane provided by the Spanish Defence Ministry

Spain's Health Ministry said that it had obtained a course of the U.S.-made drug ZMapp over the weekend to treat the priest

There is anger in Guinea that neighbouring Liberia has managed to secure some of the scarce stock.

'The alternative to not testing this is death, a certain death. This is not even the rock and the hard place for us'

Lewis Brown, Liberian Information Minister

Assiatou Diallo, a nurse in the Guinean capital Conakry, said: ‘The Liberians can count on their government but Guineans can only count on God in the face of Ebola.’
Yesterday, an ethics panel hastily convened by the World Health Organisation said that the size of the outbreak made the use of untested, and so potentially dangerous drugs ethical, provided certain conditions are met.
The organisation previously admitted that the disease, which causes internal and external bleeding, is out of control.

Health workers carry the body of a man suspected of dying from Ebola and left in the street in Liberia

David Writebol, with his wife Nancy, who has been infected with the Ebola virus. Mr Writebol himself has now been quarantined

In Sierra Leone, patients are staying away from hospital wards, gripped with fear that they will contract the Ebola virus

A health worker cleans his hands before entering an Ebola screening tent at the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone

Dr Marie-Paule Keiney, of the WHO, said: ‘It seems that some of the usual methods we are using… are not working.

'It seems that some of the usual methods we are using... are not working'

Dr Marie-Paule Keiney, WHO

‘We don’t have enough people to rely on the traditional methods if we want to stop the outbreak as soon as possible.’
Dr Kent Brantly, one of the two Americans with Ebola who were given the drug, has said that he is growing stronger every day.
But it is not known if ZMapp is responsible or if he simply recovered naturally, as some patients do.

WHO backs use of experimental Ebola drugs in outbreak