News outlets report on a Spanish nurse who is the first person to contract Ebola virus disease outside of the current West African outbreak zone. Several of her contacts also have been hospitalized for observation, and the case has sparked concerns over the preparedness of Western nations to treat Ebola patients.

Agence France-Presse: Spanish Ebola case fuels fear of European outbreak
“Spain was investigating Tuesday how a nurse in Madrid could have become infected with Ebola, sparking fears of the first outbreak outside Africa…” (Cuzin, 10/7).

Agence France-Presse: Three more hospitalized in Madrid Ebola scare
“Three more people were hospitalized in Madrid on Tuesday for observation after a nurse in the city became the first person to contract the deadly Ebola virus outside Africa, health officials said. Apart from the infected 40-year-old woman, doctors from La Paz-Carlos III hospital told a news conference that three other ‘suspect cases’ had been admitted, including her husband who is considered at ‘high risk,’ a second nurse, and a man recently returned from abroad…” (Cuzin, 10/7).

Associated Press: New concern worldwide as nurse in Spain gets Ebola
“…In Spain, the stricken nurse had been part of a team that treated two missionaries flown home to Spain after becoming infected with Ebola in West Africa. The nurse’s only symptom was a fever, but the infection was confirmed by two tests, Spanish health officials said. She was being treated in isolation, while authorities drew up a list of people she had had contact with…” (Cass/Neergaard, 10/7).

New York Times: Ebola Infects Spanish Nurse, a First in West
“A nurse in Spain has become the first health worker to be infected with the Ebola virus outside of West Africa, raising serious concerns about how prepared Western nations are to safely treat people with the deadly illness…” (Minder/Grady, 10/6).

Wall Street Journal: Spain Struggles to Address Concern Over Ebola Case
“…The European Union said it had contacted Spanish authorities to find out more details of how the medical worker contracted the disease, the first suspected transmission outside West Africa. The E.U. has also activated its Early Warning and Response System, a confidential computer network that allows the bloc’s members to share information on a disease outbreak and coordinate a response. A committee made up of health experts from the E.U.’s 28 countries, the World Health Organization, and the Sweden-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and other groups was to meet Wednesday morning…” (Roman, 10/7).

Additional coverage includes:

BBC News: Ebola outbreak: Nurse infected in Spain (10/6).
Reuters: Spanish nurse becomes first to contract Ebola outside West Africa (Pinedo/Morris, 10/7).
Wall Street Journal: Health Care Worker Contracted Ebola in Spanish Hospital (Neumann/Brat, 10/7).
Washington Post: Spanish nurse contracts Ebola in first transmission case outside of Africa (Izadi/Ferdman, 10/6).