Spanish medical authorities obtain court order to kill Ebola patient's DOG.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/madrid-will-kill-dog-woman-infected-ebola-n220361

Madrid's regional government said it would kill the pet dog of a Spanish nursing assistant who became infected with Ebola — overcoming the family's objections on Tuesday with a court order.

The nursing assistant was the first person infected outside of West Africa, after caring for a Spanish priest who died of Ebola last month. Authorities have three people under quarantine and said that available scientific knowledge indicates there's a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans.

There has been some evidence that dogs can get Ebola, and that people can be infected by animals. In Africa, the virus has been thought to spread as a result of handling bushmeat — wild animals hunted for food — and through contact with infected bats.

"There is one article in the medical literature that discusses the presence of antibodies to Ebola in dogs. Whether that was an accurate test and whether that was relevant we do not know,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said at a news conference Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/world/europe/after-its-first-ebola-case-spain-seeks-to-prevent-spread-of-virus.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LargeMediaHeadlineSum&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

The nurse’s husband has shown no signs of having the disease but was isolated as a precaution, said Dr. Francisco Arnalich, head of internal medicine at the hospital.

Reached by phone in his hospital ward, the nurse’s husband told the newspaper El Mundo that the couple had canceled vacation plans after he had an accident at work, and that his wife had decided to spend a few days at her mother’s, instead. He did not specify the mother’s location. He said that he felt fine and that he was confident his own health was evolving “favorably.” But he said he was angered to hear that the medical authorities were recommending, as a precaution, that their dog be euthanized.

The husband, identified by the newspaper as Javier, said his wife, identified as Teresa, had told him that she followed all the safety instructions set by the hospital and did not know how she could have become infected. The case is worrisome because Spain is a developed country that is expected to have the rigorous infection control protocols needed to fight the spread of Ebola.