Sheik Umar Khan, the doctor leading the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, has died from the virus.
Sierra Leone’s chief medical officer confirmed the news yesterday Tuesday 29th July 2014.
Khan who was called a “national hero” by the Health Ministry treated more than 100 patients. He died less than a week after it was announced that he had been infected, at the age of 39.
In an interview last month, the doctor had expressed fears for his life because of his constant contact with Ebola patients.
“I am afraid for my life. Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by the disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk” He told Reuters
“It is a big and irreparable loss to Sierra Leone as he was the only specialist the country had in viral haemorrhagic fevers,” said the chief medical officer Brima Kargbo.
His death comes days after a senior doctor at Liberia’s largest hospital, Samuel Brisbane, died on Saturday at an Ebola treatment centre in Monrovia.
According to the World Health Organisation, since the outbreak in February, more than 672 people have been killed in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.