The lead doctor fighting ebola in Sierra Leone has been infected by the virus, the government said, according to a Reuters report.
Sierra Leonean virologist Sheik Umar Khan, 39, is a national hero, the health ministry said. He is credited with treating more than 100 ebola victims, according to NBCNews. Before he became sick, Kahn was leading the fight to control an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African country.
Three days ago, three nurses working in the same ebola treatment center with Khan died from the virus.
Kahn is in the care of medical charity Doctors Without Borders, Sierra Leone’s presidential office said in a statement.
Ebola can kill up to 90 percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the current outbreak is lower – around 60 percent — AlJazeera reports. There is no known cure or vaccine.
More than 600 people have died from the virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation. The outbreak has put a strain on the health systems of some of Africa’s poorest countries.
Health Minister Miatta Kargbo said she would “do anything and everything in my
power to ensure (Kahn) survives.”
Khan told Reuters in late June that he was worried about catching ebola. “I am afraid for my life, I must say, because I cherish my life,” he said in an interview. At the time he appeared healthy, Reuters reported.
Kahn said health workers are susceptible to ebola because they are the first line of defense for somebody who is sick with the virus. “Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk,” he said.
The ebola outbreak started in Guinea’s remote Southeast in February and spread.
Symptoms of the highly infectious disease include diarrhea, vomiting, internal and external bleeding.
World Health Organization, nonprofits such as Doctors Without Borders and local governments say they have failed to control the outbreak so far, NBCNews reports.
“I think this has taken everybody by surprise,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director general of the World Health Organization.
Dr. Scott Dowell, who heads global health security at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says budget cuts at WHO are partly to blame. “To me, the situation in West Africa should be a wake-up call. This weakening of an institution on which we all depend on is in no one’s interest,” he said.
WHO depends almost completely on donations from governments, which have been shrinking. It has cut its outbreak and crisis response budget by more than half.
“In my view, there is no way the WHO can respond the way it needs to,” Dowell said.
More than 630 people have died from the virus, according to the latest World Health Organisation data, AlJazeera reported.
A WHO report, released Saturday, said there were 19 new deaths and 67 new cases within the four days since its previous statement.
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