Overview
- Defence sources confirmed to EFE on Tuesday that roughly a dozen soldiers deployed to Ceuta have tested positive for scabies, while the Unión de Militares de Tropa (UMT) reports at least 14 cases in one company.
- Accounts differ across outlets with ABC reporting 24 symptomatic personnel as the army says first cases predate the migrant arrival and does not automatically link infections to border operations.
- Unions ATME and UMT say the outbreak originated after troops were lodged on August 15 in the disused Batería de Costa K-8, which they describe as overcrowded, poorly maintained and prone to pest problems.
- Scabies spreads through prolonged skin-to-skin contact and is reportable under Spain’s System of Notifiable Diseases (EDO) when it affects two or more related people, a threshold unions say may have been met without full public disclosure of measures.
- The episode adds strain to Ceuta’s health response after a large migrant arrival weeks earlier, and unions are demanding transparent case lists, confirmation of contact-tracing or EDO activation, and proof of cleaning and protective-equipment steps.