Woman in Spain Hospitalized with Ebola Symptoms

Authorities in Spain are reportedly investigating a possible case of the Ebola virus in the northern Basque region.

Ebola protocol was launched after a woman who had traveled to the Central African Republic was hospitalized in San Sebastian with symptoms of the disease.

El Pais reported that the woman is a 54-year-old anthropologist who had recently traveled to the CAR for work.

The Department of Health of the Basque Government reported that the Ebola protocol was activated by the public healthcare system on the suspicion that the woman has a case of hemorrhagic fever while noting that the protocol is activated at the "slightest suspicion of symptoms."

The paper says the woman was transferred to a hospital that has a unit with special resources for the treatment of the disease.

Ebola is s a severe, extremely contagious, and often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. On average, half of the people who contract Ebola die, according to WHO statistics.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials like bedding and clothing.

The last known outbreak of the disease was in Sept. 2022 in Uganda.