Spanish priest becomes the first European to die of Ebola

A Spanish priest who was infected by the deadly Ebola in West Africa was pronounced dead by Spanish health authorities earlier today, making him the first European to die in the worst outbreak of Ebola since the virus was discovered almost 40 years ago.

A spokeswoman for Madrid’s health authorities declined to say when Miguel Pajares, 75, died. Pajares had been airlifted from Liberia on August 7 after contracting the deadly disease while working for a non-governmental organization in the West African country.

“It is confirmed. He died at 9:28 am,” said a spokeswoman for the Spanish capital’s La Paz-Carlos III hospital, confirming that he had been treated with ZMapp, an experimental serum developed in the United States that doctors had hoped would save him.

He was being treated in the La Paz-Carlos III hospital in Madrid when he died, where he had been in heavy quarantine since his return from Africa in order to prevent the disease from spreading. A co-worker who accompanied him back to their home country, Juliana Bohi, tested negative for Ebola.

“We hoped he would be able to overcome the disease but it was not to be. It is as God wished,” the priest’s sister-in-law Carmen Romo told Spanish radio station COPE.

Ebola has already claimed 4 lives in a little over a week among the staff at Saint Joseph Hospital in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. The list of the victims includes the hospital’s director, Cameroon-born Patrick Nshamdze.

The Roman Catholic order that established the charity that ran the hospital said that it fears the virus was able to spread due to inadequate safety precautions. The hospital is run by the Juan Ciudad ONGD charity, established by a Spanish Roman Catholic order. A spokeswoman for the order, Adriana Castro, said that an earlier test had wrongly shown the late director of the Liberian hospital to be free of Ebola.

“What we fear is that as Patrick’s test showed negative, many of them relaxed,” the spokeswoman said. “We don’t know 100% but it is probable that is how Pajares was infected and possibly from Pajares the virus extended among people who were there. Until they knew they were positive with Ebola they did not take precautions”.

Read more about the story at the New York Times.