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First Ebola case diagnosed on Spanish soil

This is a nurse from Carlos III clinic, who earlier treated Manuel Garcia Viejo, a Spanish missionary who died from Ebola

MADRID, October 6. /TASS/. The first case of the deadly Ebola virus has been diagnosed on Spanish soil, Spanish news agency EFE reported on Monday.

This is a nurse from Carlos III clinic, who earlier treated Manuel Garcia Viejo, a Spanish missionary who died from Ebola on September 25.

The nurse reported to hospital early on Monday and lab tests confirmed that the patient was infected with the virus.

Spanish priest Miguel Pahares working in Liberia was the first Spaniard infected with the virus. He died on August 12. Manuel Garcia Viejo was the second Spanish national to contract Ebola as he worked as chief medical officer of a hospital in the town of Lunsar in Sierra Leone.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the death toll from the Ebola virus outbreak has exceeded 3,500 people out of a total of 7,500 officially registered cases.

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe illness in humans, often fatal, according to the WHO website. The virus is passed on to people from wild animals and can be transmitted from humans to humans. The average EVD case death rate is some 50%

No licensed treatment has yet been proven to be able to neutralize the virus but a number of blood, immunological and drug medications are under development.