Arrival of Miguel Pajares in Madrid met with concerns about Spain's ability to guarantee the virus would be contained
Paramedics wearing biological isolation suits carry Miguel Pajares in to hospital in Madrid
A Spanish missionary who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia is in stable condition after arriving in Madrid on Thursday, health officials said.
Miguel Pajares, 75, arrived shortly after 8am local time (0700 BST) on a specially-equipped Airbus plane. He is the first Ebola patient of the current outbreak to be brought to Europe for treatment.
The hospital had been emptied of patients in preparation for Pajares's arrival, health union officials said. The 30 or so patients in the hospital were either sent home or to another hospital in the city. Pajares arrived with Juliana Bohi, a nun born in Equatorial Guinea and who holds Spanish nationality. Bohi is not thought to be infected.
After a medical examination on the tarmac at the Torrejón air base, the pair were taken to Madrid's Carlos III hospital in ambulances equipped as biological isolation units. Police cars and motorcycles escorted the vehicles, and a helicopter monitored the situation from above.
Miguel Pajares, 75, arrived shortly after 8am local time (0700 BST) on a specially-equipped Airbus plane. He is the first Ebola patient of the current outbreak to be brought to Europe for treatment.
The hospital had been emptied of patients in preparation for Pajares's arrival, health union officials said. The 30 or so patients in the hospital were either sent home or to another hospital in the city. Pajares arrived with Juliana Bohi, a nun born in Equatorial Guinea and who holds Spanish nationality. Bohi is not thought to be infected.
After a medical examination on the tarmac at the Torrejón air base, the pair were taken to Madrid's Carlos III hospital in ambulances equipped as biological isolation units. Police cars and motorcycles escorted the vehicles, and a helicopter monitored the situation from above.
Bohi was admitted to the same hospital as a preventative measure, health officials said.
Initial examinations showed Pajares to be in stable condition, according to Rafael Pérez-Santamarina, the director of Madrid's La Paz hospital. The city's regional government health chief, Francisco Javier Rodríguez, said Pajares was not bleeding and seemed not to be at an advanced stage of the illness.
Pajares was one of three missionaries to test positive for the virus at the San José de Monrovia hospital in Liberia. The three were part of a larger group which had been helping to treat people infected with Ebola as part of their work with the San Juan de Dios order, a Catholic humanitarian organisation that runs hospitals around the world.
News of his repatriation was met with controversy in Spain, and health professionals were concerned that Spanish hospitals were not properly equipped to handle the virus. Amyts, a trade union that represents physicians, called the repatriation risky. The union's president, Daniel Bernabéu, told the Spanish news agency Efe that the decision was "political rather than health-related".
Asking if "anyone could guarantee 100% that the virus wouldn't escape," he said that Spain could have instead sent help to the priest in Liberia.
He said the US, which has repatriated two of its own nationals to date, had 10 hospitals with the highest level of biosafety possible. Spain, in contrast, has just one adequate hospital with biosafety levels that were much lower.
An official from the Spain's health ministry downplayed the potential public health risk at a news conference on Wednesday. The public health director general, Mercedes Vinuesa, assured Spaniards that the protocols in place for the evacuation would "guarantee minimum risk".
News of his repatriation was met with controversy in Spain, and health professionals were concerned that Spanish hospitals were not properly equipped to handle the virus. Amyts, a trade union that represents physicians, called the repatriation risky. The union's president, Daniel Bernabéu, told the Spanish news agency Efe that the decision was "political rather than health-related".
Asking if "anyone could guarantee 100% that the virus wouldn't escape," he said that Spain could have instead sent help to the priest in Liberia.
He said the US, which has repatriated two of its own nationals to date, had 10 hospitals with the highest level of biosafety possible. Spain, in contrast, has just one adequate hospital with biosafety levels that were much lower.
An official from the Spain's health ministry downplayed the potential public health risk at a news conference on Wednesday. The public health director general, Mercedes Vinuesa, assured Spaniards that the protocols in place for the evacuation would "guarantee minimum risk".
