Seventh Sierra Leone Doctor Dies As Cuban Doctor Contracts Ebola

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma arrives for the 44th ordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States Heads of State in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, on March 28, 2014 ©Issouf Sanogo (AFP)

A Sierra Leonean doctor died of Ebola on Tuesday, a medical source said, bringing to seven the number of doctors killed by the virus savaging the nation’s healthcare system.

Still recovering from years of conflict, Sierra Leone has seen at least 128 of its health personnel infected by Ebola as staff working in general wards and special treatment centres have been exposed to the disease, Reuters says.

“Dr. Michael Kargbo died this afternoon,” a senior health worker at the Hastings Treatment Center in the outskirts of Freetown, told Reuters.

However, there was no official comment on the matter.

It was not clear how Kargbo, a 64-year-old dermatologist working at the Magburaka Government Hospital, was infected with Ebola as he was not serving in a frontline Ebola treatment unit.

All seven Sierra Leonean doctors who have contracted Ebola have died.

Kargbo’s death comes a day after Dr. Martin Salia died in the United States after being evacuated from Sierra Leone for treatment.

Meanwhile a Cuban doctor in Sierra Leone to help combat the Ebola outbreak has contracted the virus and is to be urgently flown to Geneva for treatment, the head of the Cuban mission said Wednesday.

Feliz Baez Sarria, 43, started feeling feverish on Sunday and is currently in a Red Cross centre near the capital Freetown, his boss, Doctor Jorge Delgado Butillo, told AFP.

"He's not critical, he's doing well, in a good condition," Butillo said. "The most important thing now is to get him evacuated to Geneva pretty soon."

The worst Ebola outbreak on record has killed over 5,000 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Mali is facing a new wave of cases but Senegal and Nigeria have successfully contained outbreaks.

Having been the worst affected nation, Liberia has seen the number of Ebola cases ease off and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has set a goal having no new cases by December 25.

However, United Nations’ officials say the disease is advancing rapidly in Sierra Leone, where there is a lack of treatment centres.