Ebola crisis: Nurses 'without proper protective gear', patients allowed to fly and 'insufficient training': does the West know what it's doing?

A catalogue of concerns have been raised over the West's response to the Ebola virus in the wake of two US healthcare workers and a Spanish nurse contracting the disease.

Teresa Romero became the first person known to have contracted Ebola in Europe after she tested positive for the disease last Monday.

Since then two US nurses who had been treating Liberian Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan, who passed away last Wednesday, have both tested positive for the disease.

A series of incidents across Europe and the US during this time have raised questions over the West's management and containment of the disease.

It was reported today that nurse Amber Vinson was cleared to fly on a plane despite calling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to report a temperature, just days before she became the second person in Texas to test positive for the disease.

Ms Vinson, who had been treating Mr Duncan at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, travelled from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas, Texas, on a commercial plane on October 13 after telling authorities she had a slight fever.

CDC spokesman David Daigle said Ms Vinson reported a temperature of 99.5 degrees (37.5C), which is below their threshold. She did not have any other symptoms at the time.

Health authorities are now racing to find the 132 other passengers on board the Frontier Airlines flight, who have been advised to call a CDC hotline.

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Ms Vinson, 29, became the second person known to have contracted the virus in Texas when preliminary tests came back positive for Ebola on Wednesday.

Nina Pham, the first health worker to contract Ebola in the US after also caring for Mr Duncan, tested positive for the virus on Sunday after what authorities say was a "breach in protocol".

CDC director Dr Tom Frieden, who cited the breach in protocol, said some of the nurses at the hospital inadvertently violated the CDC guidelines by wearing too much protective gear.

He told reporters: "These are good, dedicated people who worried about themselves and their families and they were trying to protect themselves better, but in fact by putting on more layers of gloves or other protective clothing, it becomes much harder to put them on, it becomes much harder to take them off.

"And the risk of contamination during the process of taking these gloves off gets much higher."

Earlier this week, nurses at the hospital released a statement claiming staff were forced to work without proper protective gear and described hazardous waste "piled up to the ceiling."

A statement read by the National Nurses United (NNU) said those caring for Mr Duncan were forced to use medical tape to secure openings in their flimsy garments.

Some of the nurses caring for Mr Duncan were allegedly also caring for other patients in the hospital.

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Wendell Watson, a Presbyterian spokesman, did not respond to specific claims by the nurses but said the hospital had not received similar complaints.

"Patient and employee safety is our greatest priority and we take compliance very seriously," he said. "We have numerous measures in place to provide a safe working environment, including mandatory annual training and a 24/7 hotline and other mechanisms that allow for anonymous reporting."

Widespread concern has also been raised today after video footage emerged of a plain-clothed man surrounded by people in full hazmat suits transporting the second US Ebola patient to Atlanta.

In the footage, aired live by NBC 5, the unidentified man can be seen holding a document as health workers in hazmat suits transport Ms Vinson from an ambulance to a jet at Dallas' Love Field.

Dr Frieden this week admitted the government had not been aggressive enough in managing and containing the virus.

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Two weeks earlier, Dr Frieden had been resolute in his confidence about the ability of hospitals to manage the virus.

On Tuesday however he said: "We could've sent a more robust hospital infection control team and been more hands-on with the hospital from day one about exactly how this should be managed."

Dr Frieden also outlined new steps to stop the spread of the disease, which included the creation of an Ebola response team, increased training for health care workers nationwide and changes at the Texas hospital to minimize the risk of more infections.

"I wish we had put a team like this on the ground the day the patient - the first patient - was diagnosed. That might have prevented this infection," Dr Frieden said, referring to the nurse.

Recriminations have also been flying in Spain over whether hospitals were well enough prepared to deal with Ebola cases after Ms Romero, 44, last week became the first person in the current outbreak to catch the deadly virus outside Africa.

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Training for health workers and emergency services dealing with Ebola cases is now due to be ramped up, authorities said this week.

The Spanish government has defended its handling of the outbreak after coming under fire for reacting slowly, amid claims from unions that health staff received insufficient training and equipment to deal with the disease.

In the UK meanwhile, screening plans were described as a "complete joke" by passengers at Heathrow Airport following their introduction on Monday.

Travellers from West Africa told MailOnline how they were told at the airport that checks were optional and one said he "could have walked straight through."

Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters