MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) - The first European infected with the deadly Ebola virus, Spanish priest Miguel Pajares, has died in a hospital, a spokeswoman from Madrid’s health authorities confirmed Tuesday.
Pajares was airlifted from Liberia on August 7 after contracting the virus during his work with a nongovernmental organization in West Africa.
The 75-year-old priest was slated to receive the experimental ZMapp treatment earlier tested on two other patients. A statement provided on Monday by the Spanish Health Ministry said the ZMapp drug was obtained in Geneva this weekend and brought to Madrid to treat Pajares at the Carlos III Hospital. At this point, it is unclear whether the drug was administered to Pajares before his death.
The use of ZMapp, an experimental drug previously used on two Americans with the virus, has opened up an ethical debate. The drug has shown promising results but is still in an early phase of development. Liberia recently requested samples of the drug and expect it to be brought by a “representative of the US government" later this week.
The Ebola epidemic has so far killed 1,013 people while infecting another 1,848, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data.
In response to the rising numbers, West African nations affected have boosted containment measures, causing transport chaos, price spikes and food shortages, Times Live reported.
Countries including Niger and Togo have imposed emergency measures, including flight bans or the screening of passengers. The Ivory Coast announced Monday it was banning all flights from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Ivorian government has turned away some 100 Liberians attempting to cross the border into the Ivory Coast over the past few days.
