British Ebola nurse 'critical'

Doctors said that British nurse Pauline Cafferkey's condition worsened on Saturday and that the 39-year-old was at a decisive moment in her battle with the disease.

"The condition of Pauline Cafferkey has gradually deteriorated over the past two days and is now critical," the Royal Free Hospital in London said in a statement.

The nurse has been treated with a blood plasma from another patient in Europe who had recovered from the disease. Doctors hope that antibodies contained in the fluid could help her fight the virus.

The Royal Free, which is Britain's main center for Ebola cases, successfully treated British aid worker William Pooley with the experimental drug ZMapp when he was repatriated in August. Cafferkey is the first person to have been diagnosed with the disease in Britain, having been taken to London following a positive result in Glasgow.

But the hospital said that supplies of ZMapp were no longer available, with global supplies having run out.

'Disease has variable course'

Cafferkey, who normally works as a state-employed nurse in Scotland, had been volunteering in Sierra Leone's Kerry Town with the charity Save the Children when she contracted the deadly virus.

The nurse had been sitting up in bed and talking on Wednesday, when the hospital reported that she had agreed to the plasma treatment.

“We are giving her the very best care possible. However, the next few days will be crucial," said infectious diseases consultant Dr. Michael Jacobs at the time. "The disease has a variable course and we will know much more in a week's time."

The West African Ebola outbreak first came to attention in Guinea's remote southeast, where it is believed to have come from bats, in early 2014. Since then, the disease has also taken hold in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The three countries have borne the brunt of the disease with 20,000 infections and nearly 8,000 dead.

rc/bk (AFP, AP, Reuters)