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Dog of Spanish nurse infected with Ebola put down

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The dog of the Spanish nurse infected with Ebola in Madrid was put down yesterday by health authorities who feared it could spread the deadly disease.

Health officials said that it "could expel the virus in its fluids with a potential risk of contagion".

A campaign to spare him was organised by animal rights activists.

Twitter also saw some passionate responses from users worldwide, under the hashtag #salvemosAExcalibur and #SaveExcalibur.

All of that came to nought.

Animal rights activists fought to save dog's life

Additionally, protesters scuffled with the police as they tried to prevent health officials from removing the animal from the nurse Teresa Romero's apartment.

Just 40 minutes after the dog was removed from the apartment, Madrid's regional government issued a statement saying it had been put down.

It said that the dog had been put to sleep to "avoid suffering".

Nurse infected after she touched her face with gloves

The dog’s owner, Romero, in her 40s, was part of a medical team that treated two Spanish priests who were brought back from west Africa for treatment for Ebola but both died.

She was diagnosed with the disease on Monday, becoming the first known case of Ebola being transmitted outside of Africa.

Romero told Spanish media that she suspected that she got infected because she touched her face with her gloves after treating an infected patient.

This might have happened whie she was removing her protective clothing after cleaning the priest's room. She said: "I think the error was the removal of the suit. I can see the moment it may have happened."

Her husband, Javier Limon, who has been placed in quarantine as a precaution, contacted Spanish media to object to the decision by Madrid’s regional government to have the dog put down.

Source: Reuters

Related reports: 

Dogs 'tweet' to save dog of Spanish Ebola victim, who authorities say is to be put down

Spanish nurse first to be infected with Ebola outside of Africa 

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