Ebola Virus Spreads: Spain Nurse First Ebola Case Outside Of West Africa

The Ebola virus appears to be spreading beyond the original outbreak. A Spanish nurse has reportedly become the first person to have contracted the virus outside West Africa. The nurse tested positive for Ebola in initial tests and doctors are waiting further results.

The nurse was admitted to a hospital near Madrid with a high fever Monday, Reuters reported. She apparently contracted the deadly Ebola virus after treating the Rev. Manuel Garcia Viejo, who died of Ebola in Spain in late September. He caught Ebola in Sierra Leone.

Some 3,400 people have died from Ebola since the outbreak began in March, with most of the cases occurring in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has the virus.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to develop Ebola in the United States, is in critical condition at a Dallas hospital amid growing concerns the worst Ebola outbreak in history is spreading. As many as 100 people were in contact with Duncan or his family after he arrived in the U.S. from Liberia Sept. 20, including several children.

Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a news briefing Saturday U.S. hospitals are up to the task. “We know how to stop outbreaks of Ebola,” he said. “In this country, we have health care infection control and public health systems that are tried and true and will stop [it] before there's any widespread transmission.”