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Evacuated Spanish priest with Ebola dies (577 hits)

A Spanish priest being treated for the Ebola virus at the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid died on Tuesday, Associated Press reported, citing hospital officials. Miguel Pajares had contracted the disease while he was working at the San Jose de Monrovia Hospital in Liberia's capital city, and was airlifted to Madrid last week.

Earlier reports had said that the 75-year old Pajares was to be treated with ZMapp, an untested drug being used in the treatment of two Americans infected with the virus. The Spanish drug safety agency had said that the government chose to make an “exceptional importation” of ZMapp because the patient could not be "treated satisfactorily with an authorized medication."

ZMapp, which is manufactured by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., of San Diego, is being used to treat two Americans at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, but was never tested on a human being before the latest outbreak. The Ebola virus has killed more than 1,000 people and has affected 1,848 people in West Africa, according to estimates from the United Nations.

The use of the drug on only Western patients so far had triggered criticism from African nations, which have been hit hardest by the crisis.

On Monday, reports had said the U.S. had authorized the dispatch of the drug to Liberia to treat two local doctors, and that the approval from the U.S. came as a response to a request on Friday from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. However, on Tuesday, Liberia backed off the claim it made earlier that U.S. President Barack Obama had authorized the dispatch of the experimental drug to the West African nation, according to Associated Press.

http://www.ibtimes.com/spanish-priest-migu...

Posted By: Jeni Fa
Tuesday, August 12th 2014 at 4:55PM
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{A Spanish missionary priest, Miguel Pajares, who was evacuated from Liberia last week after testing positive for the Ebola virus, is being treated with a U.S.-made experimental drug specially imported by Spain. The outbreak has so far killed nearly 1,000 people in several West African countries.

The drug, ZMapp, which has been developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. of San Diego, was transported to Madrid to treat the 75-year-old priest after the Spanish Agency for Medicine and Sanitary Products approved importing the drug, the Health Ministry reportedly said Monday. Pajares was placed in isolation Thursday at Carlos III Hospital in Madrid and is reportedly in a “stable” condition, but authorities are not revealing his progress at the patient's request.

The “exceptional importation” of the drug was made under the law that allows the “use of non-authorized medications in cases where a patient’s life is in danger and they can’t be treated satisfactorily with an authorized medication,” Spain’s drug safety agency said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera, which cited Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The drug has also reportedly been used on two Americans infected with Ebola in Liberia. The two patients are currently in the U.S. and are being treated in isolation at an Atlanta hospital. But, scientists are still unsure if the drug has made a difference to the health of the two Americans, as it has never been tested on humans.}

Tuesday, August 12th 2014 at 5:16PM
Jeni Fa

MADRID - An elderly Spanish priest infected with Ebola died in a Madrid hospital on Tuesday, five days after being evacuated from Liberia, a hospital spokeswoman said. The 75-year-old Roman Catholic priest, Miguel Pajares, was being treated in Spain with an experimental US serum, ZMapp, after being flown to Madrid on August 7.
He contracted Ebola at the Saint Joseph Hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia where he worked with patients suffering from the disease.

"It is confirmed. He died at 9:28 am," said a spokeswoman for Spain's La Paz-Carlos III hospital.
The priest had been treated with ZMapp, she said. The medicine arrived at Madrid's La Paz-Carlos III hospital on Saturday after Spain's drug safety agency exceptionally cleared its import to treat the deadly disease.
Ebola has now claimed four lives in 10 days among the staff of the same Saint Joseph Hospital in Monrovia, which has since been shuttered.

The hospital is run by the Juan Ciudad ONGD charity, which was established by a Spanish Roman Catholic order, the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God. The religious order issued a statement confirming the priest's death. It thanked the government and people for their support, highlighting the "good work" by hospital staff who treated the priest.

The Roman Catholic order said it would not be making further comment.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/658632-eva...

Tuesday, August 12th 2014 at 5:28PM
Jeni Fa