An apology from Texas hospital

The head of the group that runs the Texas hospital under scrutiny for mishandling an Ebola scare apologized Sunday in full-page ads in local Dallas newspapers, saying the hospital "made mistakes in handling this very difficult challenge." Barclay E. Berdan, chief executive of Texas Health Resources, which operates a network of 25 hospitals here, said in an open letter that hospital officials were deeply sorry for having misdiagnosed symptoms shown by Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was sent home after his first visit to the emergency room of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital but later was readmitted and then died of Ebola two weeks later.

Spanish nurse free of virus

An initial test shows that a nursing assistant who became infected with Ebola in Spain is now clear of all traces of the virus nearly two weeks after she was hospitalized. Teresa Romero, 44, is the first person known to have contracted the disease outside West Africa in the current outbreak when she tested positive for the virus Oct. 6. She has been in quarantine at Carlos III hospital in Madrid since then.

School cancels liberian's lecture

The University of Georgia canceled the Oct. 23 guest lecture of an award-winning Liberian journalist after concerns were raised by parents and the public that it could expose students and the campus community to the Ebola virus. Wade C.L. Williams was to deliver the lecture about her experiences covering the Ebola crisis. An editor for Front Page Africa, a news website and newspaper in Monrovia, she works in one of the hardest-hit West African countries, with close to 2,500 deaths reported this year from the virus.

Brussels airport to begin screening

Brussels Airport says it will begin screening passengers arriving from the Ebola-stricken countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The airport operator says passengers arriving from these three countries will have their temperatures taken starting Monday. Four flights a week from those countries arrive weekly at Brussels Airport. Similar measures were begun Saturday at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, where one daily flight arrives from Conakry, Guinea.

48 people will end 21-day quarantine

The first wave of people will emerge from a state-ordered 21-day Ebola quarantine Monday. Experts who study psychology say the release of 48 people from the Ebola watchlist back into society, and the expected onslaught of news coverage, could fuel another wave of irrational fear.

news services