A Cuban doctor infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone is being flown to Switzerland for hospitalisation in Geneva, Swiss health authorities said yesterday.
The doctor, identified by Cuba’s official website Cubadebate on Tuesday as Felix Baez, is one of 165 Cuban doctors and nurses treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. He is the first of the group, deployed since early October, known to be infected.
The deadly virus is spreading intensely in Sierra Leone
He is being evacuated from the West African country by a private American carrier, with the help of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health said in a statement.
“The University Hospital of Geneva, where he will be brought, is ready to admit him in accordance with long-established procedures that will ensure the security of all staff and patients,” the Swiss statement said. A Geneva doctor specialising in infectious diseases is organising his care in a special hospital room separate from other wards and outpatient clinics at the downtown hospital, it said. “The Swiss population is not at any risk.”
Hospital staff have been trained and rehearsed procedures to put on and remove protective gear, the Swiss statement said.
Switzerland has offered to treat international health workers being evacuated with the virus in Geneva, home of many international organisations, including the WHO, it said.
Geneva is one of two Swiss hospitals conducting trials of experimental vaccines against the virus, which has killed 5,177 people in eight countries. The NewLink vaccine, developed by Canada, is being tested in Geneva, while the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine is being tested in Lausanne.
Meanwhile Ebola is spreading intensely in Sierra Leone. The toll in the Ebola epidemic has risen to 5,420 deaths out of 15,145 cases in eight countries, the WHO said yesterday, with transmission of the deadly virus still “intense and widespread” in Sierra Leone.
The figures, through November 16, represent a jump of 243 deaths and 732 cases since those issued last Friday, and cases continue to be under-reported, the WHO said in its latest update.
Sierra Leone, a former British colony, confirmed 533 new cases in the week to November 16, it said. “Much of this was driven by intense transmission in the country’s west and north.”
The outbreaks in Guinea and Liberia currently appear to be driven by intense transmission in several key districts, the WHO said, citing N’Zerekore in Guinea and Montserrado in Liberia, which includes the capital Monrovia. Authorities in Mali have now reported six cases of Ebola including five deaths, the WHO said. The remaining cases have been in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the United States.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said yesterday that her government has the upper hand in the fight against Ebola. However, she went on to warn against complacency or any reduction in international support.