Spain will be free from the threat of further contagion from Ebola on October 27 if all those who had close contact with an infected nurse remain without symptoms by then, a hospital director said today.

Concerns that Ebola could spread in Spain have been high since the nurse, Teresa Romero, on October 6 became the first person diagnosed as having caught the deadly haemorrhagic fever outside of Africa.

She is thought to have contracted the disease in late September in a Madrid hospital while caring for a Spanish missionary who was repatriated after he became infected with Ebola in Africa.

The 44-year old is being treated at Madrid’s Carlos III Hospital, which Spain has designated to handle Ebola cases, and her condition “is serious but improving”, according to a hospital source.

Fifteen people considered as having had “high risk contact” with Romero, including her husband and two employees at a beauty salon where she went for a waxing, are being monitored at the hospital. None of them have shown any symptoms.

“The date we all have in mind is October 27, which is the day when all those who have been in contact with Teresa who are now under surveillance… will have fulfilled these 21 days, therefore the situation will be totally free” of the risk of contagion,”  a senior health worker said.