MADRID - A Spanish nurse's aide who was the first person known to have contracted the Ebola virus outside Africa was set to be released from a Madrid hospital on Wednesday, almost a month after she tested positive for the disease.
The nurse's aide, María Teresa Romero Ramos, was expected to read a statement around 1 p.m. Madrid time, before leaving the Carlos III hospital where she was treated since testing positive for Ebola on Oct. 6.
Medical officials said that Ms. Romero had recovered in part because of her strength and immunological system, but also because of the treatments that she received over the past month. They said, however, that it was not possible to determine which factors most contributed to her survival.
The medical team said that Ms. Romero was treated with an experimental antiviral drug, Favipiravir, as well as with plasma from a patient who had survived Ebola. Spain has imported another experimental drug, but doctors eventually decided not to give it to Ms. Romero because Spain did not receive the most recent version of the drug.
Without being able to compare the results of Ms. Romero's treatment with those of other Ebola patients, 'we cannot say what cured Teresa,' Dr. Marta Arsuaga, part of f the team that treated her, said during a televised news conference early Wednesday.
Dr. Rafael Pérez-Santamarina, the managing director of the hospital, said at the news conference that Ms. Romero's discharge from the hospital was welcome news after 'a very complicated month for all of us.'
Ms. Romero's infection set off a public health safety crisis in Spain, as well as political tensions and widespread criticism about the government's handling of Ebola patients and reduced spending on health care. Critics have called for the resignation of Ana Mato, Spain's health minister.
Francisco José Rodríguez, the health chief of the regional government of Madrid, was also forced to apologize after suggesting that Ms. Romero 'may have been lying to us' about her condition when she first called health services to report her symptoms.
Ms. Romero and her husband, Javier Limón, are expected to pursue legal action against the Spanish authorities.
Barring any further cases, Spain will be declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on Dec. 2, according to a protocol that requires a monitoring period of 42 days after the last known death or recovery of an Ebola patient.
Ms. Romero, 44, was found to be infected after treating a Spanish missionary at the Carlos III hospital who had returned from West Africa with the disease; he died Sept. 25. Ms. Romero and officials at the hospital have suggested that she may have become infected by touching her face with a glove while removing protective gear.
After Ms. Romero tested positive for the virus, a dozen other people who were believed to have been in direct contact with her were quarantined and monitored for possible symptoms of Ebola. None tested positive.
Dr. José Ramón Arribas, who is in charge of the treatment of infectious diseases at the hospital, said on Wednesday that Ms. Romero would now 'return to a completely normal life' and that she presented no contamination risk.
Dr. Arribas added that Ms. Romero would most likely need more time to recover fully from the trauma of the disease. She was said to plan to go to her family village in northwest Spain rather than returning to her home in Alcorcón, near Madrid.
