A prominent World Health Organisation adviser has warned that more Ebola cases can be expected among medical staff - even in developed countries with modern health care systems.
Professor Peter Piot said he was not surprised that a Spanish nurse had contracted the disease.
The nurse has become the first person known to have contracted the deadly virus outside West Africa.
She treated two Spanish missionaries who died of Ebola in Madrid.
The nurse, identified in media reports as Teresa Romero, looked after the pair after they were repatriated from West Africa.
She remains in quarantine in the Spanish capital along with her husband and three other people. Another 50 people in Spain are being monitored.
The fifth person to be placed under quarantine - who is reported to be a friend of the infected nurse and also a member of the Ebola care unit at the same hospital - was admitted on Wednesday morning with a slight fever.
The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Madrid says hospital staff reported scenes of panic at work on Tuesday, with some people crying and others leaving the premises.
Spanish media say neighbours of the infected nurse have been calling emergency services, asking how to protect their children after sharing lifts and public spaces.
In another development, the woman's husband is reported to be fighting a court order to have their pet dog put down over fears that it could be carrying the disease. Animal rights groups have also criticised the move, saying there is no evidence that Ebola has been spread by dogs.
Some 3,400 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak with most of the deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
'Dangerous moment'
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says that from the start of the epidemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has emphasised the impoverished health care systems of the countries hardest hit: Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
A man wearing a mask enters the gates of a housing estate where it is believed the nursing assistant who tested positive for Ebola and her husband live in Madrid
Protesters in Madrid on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Spanish Health Minister Ana Mato for what they say are failures leading to the first case of Ebola contracted in Europe
Teresa Romero Ramos is in quarantine in Madrid and another 50 people in Spain who are also are being monitored
Its experts have insisted that modern hospitals with rigorous disease control measures would prevent infection - but our correspondent says the case of the Madrid nurse proves that is far more difficult than many thought.
Professor Piot, a world specialist in Ebola brought in by the WHO as a scientific adviser, warned that even the simplest movement, like rubbing your eyes, is a risk.
"The smallest mistake can be fatal," he said.
"For example, a very dangerous moment is when you come out of the isolation unit you take off your protective gear, you are full of sweat and so on."
Professor Piot said he was not surprised by the case of the nurse in Madrid and expected more cases in Europe and the US, although he does not expect to see the illness spread as rapidly as it has in Africa.
'Dire consequences'
Meanwhile the US military is stepping up its efforts to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Relatives of Thomas Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US, held a vigil outside the Dallas hospital where he is being treated after catching the virus in his native Liberia
Ebola has rampaged through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since March, killing more than half of those it infects
The virus has hit health care workers hard, sickening or killing more than 370 in the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone
Liberia's ambassador to the US, Jeremiah Sulunteh, told the BBC more treatment centres and ambulances were desperately needed.
"We need some logistical support - ambulances to take people from the communities, rural communities to the treatment centres," he said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of dire consequences for economies in the region if the virus continues to spread.
Madrid protest
The European Commission has asked Spain to explain how Ms Romero, a 40-year-old auxiliary nurse, could have become infected. A hospital investigation is under way.
She was one of about 30 staff at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid who had been treating priests Manuel Garcia Viejo and Miguel Pajares, officials say.
Mr Garcia Viejo, 69, died at the hospital on 25 September after catching Ebola in Sierra Leone. Mr Pajares, 75, died in August after contracting the virus in Liberia.
Ms Romero had twice gone into the room where Mr Garcia Viejo had been treated, to be directly involved in his care and to disinfect the room after his death.
Madrid healthcare director Antonio Alemany said: "The nurse went into the room wearing the individual protection gear and there's no knowledge of an accidental exposure to risk."
Ebola virus disease (EVD)
- Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
- Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva
- Fatality rate can reach 90% - but current outbreak has mortality rate of about 70%
- Incubation period is two to 21 days
- There is no proven vaccine or cure
- Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
- Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus's natural host
The Carlos III hospital in Madrid was reported to have had extreme protective measures in place including two sets of overalls, gloves and goggles.
However, health workers told El Pais newspaper that the clothing did not have level-four biological security, which is fully waterproof and with independent breathing apparatus.
Health staff in Madrid protested over alleged safety failures on Tuesday.
Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and the only way to stop an outbreak is to isolate those who are infected.
There have been nearly 7,500 confirmed infections worldwide, with officials saying the figure is likely to be much higher in reality.
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