Spain faces possible new cases

Jet disinfected at Madrid airport

Four people with fever considered at risk for Ebola were being tested Thursday in Spain for the virus, including one who arrived on an Air France jet that was isolated at Madrid’s airport as a precaution and disinfected, officials said. The ailing passenger was travelling from Nigeria.

The other three were: a missionary who came down with a fever after returning to Spain from Liberia, where his order treats Ebola patients; a person who came into contact with infected Spanish nursing assistant Teresa Romero before she was hospitalized Oct. 6; and a Red Cross health worker who recently worked with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. In other developments Thursday: A World Health Organization official in Geneva said the Ebola death toll would rise to more than 4,500 this week from among 9,000 people infected. It has projected that there could be 5,000 to 10,000 new cases a week in early December without urgent action. Danish authorities tested for Ebola a medical worker who had been in West Africa. Sweden said it would give an additional $14 million to support efforts to fight the virus, on top of $19 million pledged previously. The virus has infected two people in Koinadugu, which was the last untouched district in Sierra Leone — a setback in efforts to stop the spread of the disease in one of the hardest-hit countries. Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma said Ebola is killing more youth than any other age group. He said many who work on farms are instrumental in economic growth, and as a result “gains have been reversed, the economy is slowing down.”