Madrid's regional government says it's going to kill the pet dog of a Spanish woman who became infected with Ebola.
Authorities said in a statement Tuesday that available scientific knowledge indicates there's a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans.
The Spanish nursing assistant became the first case of Ebola being transmitted outside of West Africa after she cared for a Spanish priest in Madrid who died of Ebola last month. She and her husband are now in quarantine.
The government said the dog, named Excalibur, would be euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and using bio-security measures that it did not specify. Its body will later be incinerated.
The government had to get a court order for the euthanization over the family's objections.
THIS IS A URGENT UPDATE. AP'S PREVIOUS STORY IS BELOW:
MADRID (AP) — Three more people were under quarantine Tuesday for possible Ebola at a Madrid hospital after a Spanish nursing assistant became infected there, authorities said. More than 50 others were being monitored as experts pressed to figure out why Spain's anti-infection practices failed.
Health authorities were investigating how the nursing assistant, part of a special team that cared for a Spanish priest who died of Ebola last month, became infected. She was the first case of Ebola being transmitted outside of West Africa, where a months-long outbreak has killed at least 3,500 people and sparked social unrest.
Her case highlighted the dangers health care workers face while caring for Ebola patients — more than 370 health care workers in the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have died.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, said her case shows that health workers can be at risk not only in West Africa but in the sophisticated medical centers in Europe and the United States.
The virus that causes Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Officials said the Spanish nursing assistant had changed a diaper for the priest and collected material from his room after he died. Dead Ebola victims are highly infectious and in West Africa their bodies are collected by workers in hazmat outfits.
Meanwhile, a Norwegian doctor infected with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone arrived back in Norway on Tuesday for treatment. Officials gave no details about her condition but said she was in an isolation ward at Oslo University Hospital.
News of the Ebola quarantines spooked investors Tuesday because Spain is one of Europe's biggest tourist destinations. Shares of Spanish airline and hotel chain companies slumped as investors feared the Ebola case might scare away travelers.
The nursing assistant, reportedly in her 40s, was not identified to protect her privacy but union officials she had 14 years of experience and authorities said she had no children.
Jose Ramon Arribas, the chief of the Carlos III hospital's infectious disease department where she was under quarantine, said she was being treated with blood plasma from an unidentified cured Ebola victim. The hospital also had an experimental anti-viral drug called Favioiravir available if needed, he said.
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