MADRID
A total of 22 patients with Ebola symptoms have been under medical observation, Spain's English news agency EFE reported on Friday.
Three people have been hospitalized at La Candelaria hospital in Tenerife city and others at Madrid's Carlos III hospital, the agency reported.
There has been concern about the spread of Ebola in Spain after a nurse, Teresa Romero, who treated an Ebola victim in Madrid, became the first person to have caught the virus in Europe. She tested positive for the viral infection on Oct. 6, and further tests have confirmed the diagnosis, according to sources in the country's Health Ministry.
But a Nigerian passenger, who displayed symptoms of Ebola infection, and grounded an Air France flight in Madrid on Thursday, has tested negative for the disease. But the passenger will be tested again after 72 hours.
The World Health Organization said on October 14 that there are likely to be more than 9,000 Ebola cases in West Africa as of this week and that the number of reported deaths had already reached 4,493.
Ebola is a deadly virus causing uncontrollable internal and external bleeding. The virus harms the immune system and internal organs.
The viral infection is contracted through skin contact. It is spread by exposure to fluid from infected animals and through contact with contaminated needles or surfaces.
www.aa.com.tr/en
