Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Wednesday 11/19/2014 - 10:35 GMT
A Cuban doctor in Sierra Leone to help combat the Ebola outbreak has contracted the virus and is to be urgently flown to Geneva for treatment, the head of the Cuban mission said Wednesday.
Feliz Baez Sarria, 43, started feeling feverish on Sunday and is currently in a Red Cross centre near the capital Freetown, his boss, Doctor Jorge Delgado Butillo, told AFP.
"He's not critical, he's doing well, in a good condition," Butillo said. "The most important thing now is to get him evacuated to Geneva pretty soon."
Cuba has sent around 250 doctors and nurses to Ebola-stricken west Africa, including about 165 to Sierra Leone, and has said it plans to send 450 in total.
The virus has killed almost 5,200 people, mostly in west Africa, including 1,187 in Sierra Leone.
"We are continuing working," Butillo said. "We are not afraid (but) now we have to do anything to better protect ourselves."
Cuba's response to the epidemic has won plaudits from humanitarian workers who say the international community's reaction has been lacking.
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