EU Ebola talks in Luxembourg

Monday's scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg comes hours after the announcement that the Spanish nurse Teresa Romero, the first person infected outside of Africa during the current outbreak, has tested negative for the virus. Ahead of the talks, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the bloc should consider sending "a civilian EU mission" to West Africa.

"This would offer a platform to member states" to send medical staff to the region, Steinmeier said Sunday at a health forum in Berlin. "If we do not act, the consequences - even for us in Germany - would be incalculable," he added. On Sunday, German media reported that the government was working on building a plane to transport Ebola patients.

The most widespread outbreak on record has so far killed more than 4,500 of 9,200 infected people, almost all of them in three West African countries, with close to 2,500 deaths registered in Liberia alone. Three diagnoses in the United States have provoked widespread fear there. However, a global UN appeal for nearly $1 billion (785 billion euros) has so far fallen short, with less than $386 million given by governments and agencies, and just under $226 million more promised.

Ebola, which has no licensed treatment or vaccine, spreads via bodily fluids. Some countries have managed to get a handle on the outbreak, with Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, expected to receive Ebola-free status on Monday after 42 days without registering any new infections.

'Vanquished the disease'

Spanish nurse Teresa Romero will undergo a second test before being officially declared virus-free. She remains quarantined at Carlos III hospital in Madrid, where she has been since October 6.

"I am very happy today, because we can now say that Teresa has vanquished the disease," her husband, Javier Limon, said Sunday in a video recorded at his hospital bed. Although he has not tested positive for Ebola, Limon, too, remains under quarantine, along with 14 other people who had contact with Romero before her diagnosis.

The 44-year-old nurse caught Ebola while treating two infected missionaries in Madrid, making her the first reported case of transmission outside of West Africa during the current outbreak. Manuel Garcia Viejo had fallen ill in Sierra Leone, and Miguel Pajares became sick in Liberia. Both missionaries were repatriated to Spain, where they died of the virus.

Since Romero's infection, Spanish health workers have protested (pictured), seeking better labor conditions to protect them from Ebola. Government officials also ordered Romero's dog killed fearing that it might have contracted the virus from her.

Romero was treated with blood plasma from people who had survived Ebola. Spain's government has declined to provide further information, complying with Romero's request not to publish details about her treatment. A special national Ebola committee did announce, however, that Romero would undergo her second test "in the coming hours," according to a statement that also reported that her health as "developing favorably."

mkg/ksb (AFP, AP)