MADRID, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - Three activists have been injured trying to prevent the euthanasia of an Ebola patient's dog in Spain, El Pais reported Thursday.
The transfer of the dog's body left three activists injured Wednesday after about 100 people broke through police lines trying to stop the vehicle transporting the dog's cadaver. One person fell and hit his head, which resulted in an open head injury. The activist is now in hospital.
After the violent episode, the door of the Ebola patient's home was sealed and protected with plastic and its public areas were disinfected.
On October 6, Teresa Romero Ramos, a nurse at a hospital in Madrid tested positive for the Ebola virus after taking part in the treatment of Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo, who became infected with virus while assisting patients in Sierra Leone and died in a Madrid hospital on September 25. This was the current outbreak's first Ebola case in Europe during.
The nurse's dog was euthanized Wednesday as apparently, animals can be infected with Ebola and can pass the virus to humans.
Pet lovers around the world launched a campaign on social media to save the Ramos' pet.
The Ebola epidemic currently taking place in West Africa broke out in southern Guinea in February, and later spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the death toll from the epidemic has surpassed 3,800.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are working on developing Ebola vaccines.
