12th August, 2014
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.