US Ebola outbreak: Pet found in Texas apartment of infected female health worker 'will be cared for', says mayor

A pet has been found in the apartment belonging to the first person to ever contract Ebola in US, days after hundreds of thousands of social media users united in anger at the killing of a dog belonging to a patient in Spain.

The unidentified female health worker in Dallas, Texas had been in close contact with disease victim Thomas Eric Duncan while treating him before his death last Wednesday, officials said today.

A hazardous materials team has now “decontaminated” the apartment complex where she lived, the mayor of Dallas Mike Rawlings told a press conference.

He said a pet was found inside the woman’s apartment, and that officials have a plan in place to care for the animal. They are also monitoring a single person with whom the worker had contact while she may have been infectious.

Officials have also “decontaminated” a car, entranceway and communal areas used by the worker.

A neighbour, 57-year-old Cliff Lawson, said he was woken at 6am this morning by two police officers who told him “don’t panic”.

“I went back to bed after that,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t wrap your house in bubble wrap.”

Mr Rawlings said they do not believe the pet found in the woman’s apartment was showing any signs of having contracted Ebola.

But its treatment so far appears to contrast to that of Excalibur, a pet dog owned by a nursing assistant in Madrid who contracted the disease.

While Teresa Romero remained in a serious but stable condition on Saturday, and three more of her contacts were admitted to hospital for observation, thousands gathered in more than 20 cities across Spain to protest against how Madrid authorities had euthanised the dog on Wednesday instead of placing it in quarantine.

Some had painted Excalibur's name on to their faces and many carried placards saying “We are with you Teresa”, “You are not alone” and “We are all Excalibur”, and called on Health Minister Ana Mato to resign.

Little research has been done into the risks to human populations of potentially Ebola-carrying household pets.

But the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did publish a report in 2005 that suggests dogs, at least, can carry Ebola without showing symptoms – and that in doing so they pose a potential risk to people in disease-affected areas.