Head doctor treating Ebola patient dies

The top doctor treating patients infected with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has died from the disease, officials have confirmed.

"Dr Omar Khan died at 2:00 pm," announced the head of the country's health services, Brima Kargbo.

Khan was admitted last week into an anti-Ebola treatment facility run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) after testing positive for the virus.

Dr Khan's death on Tuesday afternoon was confirmed by chief medical officer Dr Brima Kargbo, who had previously hailed him as a "national hero" when she announced he had contracted the the disease.

"It is a big and irreparable loss to Sierra Leone as he was the only specialist the country had in viral haemorrhagic fevers," Kargbo said on Tuesday.

Dr Khan was being treated at an Ebola ward run by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has in recent weeks described the disease’s West African outbreak as "out of control".

At the time of his diagnosis, it was not immediately clear how Dr Khan became infected. While health workers are especially vulnerable to contracting the virus spread through bodily fluids such as saliva, sweat, blood and urine, Reuters reporters who visited Kenema in June heard the doctor was “always meticulous with protection, wearing overalls, mask, gloves and special footwear”.

Before his diagnosis, Dr Khan told reporters: "I am afraid for my life, I must say, because I cherish my life."

"Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk," he added.

US Ebola doctor:

An American doctor who has contracted the dangerous Ebola virus in Liberia is "weak and quite ill," a colleague of his told AFP on Tuesday.

Kent Brantly, 33, became infected with Ebola while working with patients in the Liberian capital of Monrovia as he helped treat victims of the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

Brantly and another American healthcare worker, Nancy Writebol, are among the more than 1,200 people who have become infected with Ebola in West Africa since March.

Ebola deaths:

Since March, there have been 1,201 cases of Ebola and 672 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ebola can fell victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.

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