Not Again! Sierra Leone's lead Doctor Dies of Ebola



Ebola victims buried at the cemetery in Freetown Sierra Leone, Dec. 17th. Reuters.

Another Doctor in charge of Ebola cases in Sierra Leone, said to be the lead doctor died of Ebola on Thursday, Reuter report.

He passed on just few hours as he arrived in the country of an experimental drug that could have been used to treat him, the government's chief medical officer said.

Dr Victor Willoughby was diagnosed with Ebola last week after he treated a man with organ-related problems. The patient, a senior banker, was later diagnosed with Ebola and has since died.

The drug, ZMab, was transported in frozen form on a Brussels Airlines flight that arrived overnight. Before it could thaw, Willoughby's condition deteriorated, said chief medical officer Brima Kargbo.

His death brings to 12 the number of Sierra Leone doctors to have contracted the virus. Eleven have died. In all, 142 health workers have been infected with the disease in the West African country and 109 have died, according to World Health Organization figures.

Kargbo said Willoughby's death was one of the most tragic to hit the country since the passing, in July, of its only virologist and Ebola specialist, Dr Shek Humar Khan.

"We all looked up to Dr Willoughby and would consult him on many issues relating to our medical profession," Kargbo said.

Dr M'Baimba Baryoh, a surgeon at Connaught hospital Freetown who described Dr Willoughby as a "very good friend", said Sierra Leone had desperate need of more foreign healthcare workers as local staff were overstretched.

So sad.



Credit: Reuter via Yahoo