Senior doctor leading fight against Ebola contracts the virus in Sierra Leone
Sheik Umar Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, is reported to have contracted the deadly disease and is undergoing treatment
The head doctor fighting an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the West African state of Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease, one of a growing list of medical workers infected while battling to halt its spread across the region.
Ebola has killed 632 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak began in February, putting strain on a string of weak health systems facing one of the world’s deadliest diseases despite waves of international help.
“I am afraid for my life, I must say, because I cherish my life.”
In a sign of the growing frustration with the failure of region’s governments to tackle the outbreak, a Liberian whose brother died from the disease set fire to the Health Ministry in protest on Wednesday.
A statement from the president’s office said 39-year-old Sheik Umar Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, had been transferred to a treatment ward run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
A source at the ward confirmed that the doctor was alive and receiving treatment, but gave no details of his condition.
Khan has been hailed a “national hero” by the Health Ministry for his efforts to lead the fight against an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African nation.