Madrid health professionals are pointing to the substandard equipment in the hospital and failure to stick to protocol as the main reason for the first Ebola infection to be contracted outside of west Africa.

On Monday, health authorities revealed that a nurse working at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid, where  previous Ebola patients were treated, has tested positive for the virus twice.

Like Us on Facebook

In an interview with El Pais, a hospital staff said that the protective suits worn by the nurses while they were treating the Ebola patient were not according to World Health Organization standards, which said suits must be impermeable.

In addition, the hospital staff said their suits did not have breathing equipment and noted that the hospital gloves were only secured by adhesive tapes, which may have made it permeable to the virus.

The Spanish nurse was part of the team that treated the missionary Manuel Garcia Viejo, who contracted the virus after travelling to Sierra Leone.

The 69-year-old Viejo died on September 24, four days after he was brought to Carlos III hospital.

The nurse was also one of those who looked after Miguel Pajares, a 75-year-old missionary who returned to the U.S. from Liberia in August, and died after five days from admission to the hospital.

The nurse's husband was also admitted to the hospital and sent to an isolation unit after his wife tested positive.

In addition, another nurse who was also part of the team that treated the Ebola patient was also being tested for the virus.

According to a Madrid regional spokesperson, the nurse called health authorities on Monday after she had a fever. She was put in isolation while the authorities waited for her laboratory test results.

Reports said that the nurse was on vacation when she started exhibiting the symptoms of the disease.

TagsSpanish nurse with Ebola, what is ebola, Ebola Virus, Ebola Virus Disease, ebola in madrid