A NURSE from Madrid infected with Ebola is virus-free, according to tests carried out on her last night (Sunday) - just a week after hospital staff believed she was extremely unlikely to survive.
Teresa Romero, 44, was in a very critical condition on Friday last week and her family were told there was little hope that she would live to tell the tale.
But she has improved dramatically since then and is now off oxygen, eating small amounts of solids and drinking fluids.
A second test between 24 and 48 hours later - between tonight (Monday) and Tuesday evening - will be the deciding factor, since merely testing negative for Ebola on the first occasion is not considered enough to confirm the patient can now be considered mostly recovered.
Even if the second test shows Teresa is negative for Ebola - which appears likely - she will still have to remain in hospital for a while because the virus has caused damage to her lungs, liver and kidneys which need to be 'repaired' through dialysis and medication before she can go home.
As yet, Teresa does not know her dog, Excalibur, has been put to sleep after the regional health authorities obtained a court order to break into her house and put him down.
Teresa's husband, Javier Limón - who has not shown any symptoms of Ebola - refused to give his permission for Excalibur to be put to sleep, but this, and a series of public protests and petitions of over half a million signatures were not enough to save the beloved family pet's life.
A dog belonging to a nurse in Dallas, Texas in the USA who is being treated for Ebola which she caught from attending to Liberian national Thomas Duncan, has been quarantined and will undergo tests if he shows no symptoms after the incubation period of 21 days.
State health authorities in Texas say they are concerned to ensure the dog, Bentley, is given every chance since he is 'clearly important to' the nurse, Nina Pham.
A vet goes to see him and play with him three times a day and admits she has already fallen in love with him.
If two sets of tests after the incubation period show up negative after the 21 days, Bentley will be allowed to go home.
Tests 12 years ago on 700 dogs led to 23 being found to have contracted the Ebola virus - all of which had eaten infected small animals such as fruitbats, known to be carriers, and all of which were in Gabon, a west African nation where the disease has reared its head in the past.
No evidence is available to show dogs can pass Ebola to humans, or vice versa.
