Teresa Romero, the 44-year-old Spanish nursing auxiliary who survived Ebola after becoming the first person to become infected by the virus outside of Africa, looks to be heading for an appearance in court after the head of the Madrid Regional Health Authority Javier Rodriguez rejected an offer of arbitration offered by her lawyers.

Romero has asked Rodriguez for 150,000 euros (about 187,500 U.S. dollars) in damages for defamation of character as a result of his comments that she had lied about her condition in the days before she was taken to the Carlos III Hospital in Madrid on Oct. 6.

He also implied that Romero had been infected as the result of her own error while taking off her protective clothing after treating the Spanish missionary, Manuel Garcia Viejo, in the Carlos III.

Rodriguez later apologized for his remarks, but that apology received much less coverage in the press than the original comments and he has so far resisted widespread calls for him to resign over the Ebola crisis.

Meanwhile Romero and her husband Javier Limon, who himself had to spend three weeks in isolation after being considered at high risk of contracting the illness himself, are demanding a further 150,000 euros over the order given by the Health Authority to have their dog, "Excalibur" put down, after considering it too posed a threat to public health.

A spokesman for the Madrid Health Authority has confirmed that the case will now go to court and it will not be the only Ebola related case to be put in front of the judges, as there are two more complaints already filed, one of which was made by 15 doctors over the alleged lack of training and safety measures for dealing with Ebola patients in Madrid. (1 euro = 1.25 U.S. dollars) Endit

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