Sudanese United Nations Medical Officer Dies of Ebola in German Hospital
BERLIN (Reuters) - A Sudanese U.N. medical official who caught Ebola while working in Liberia has died in a German hospital where he was being treated, the clinic in Leipzig said on Tuesday.
The worst Ebola outbreak on record has killed more than 4,000 people -- mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- and has spread beyond West Africa, with a nurse in the United States and one in Spain having caught the disease from patients.
The U.N. medic, who has not been named, arrived in Leipzig last week and was the third Ebola patient to be treated in Germany. One was successfully treated and released from hospital, while another is still being treated.
"The patient sick with Ebola fever died during the night in St. Georg Clinic in Leipzig. Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by the medical team, the 56-year-old U.N. employee succumbed to the serious infectious disease," the German clinic said.
The volunteer medic was the second member of the U.N. mission, known as UNMIL, to contract and succumb to the virus.
"UNMIL colleagues are saddened by the tragic news as they continue to serve at this very difficult time. Our thoughts now are with the family and friends of the departed," UNMIL said.
Doctor Bernhard Ruf at the Leipzig clinic said, "we took measures of the highest standard to protect personnel and the environment, so there was no danger to others. We have also safely destroyed all material contaminated with Ebola."
The World Health Organization said the number of Ebola cases in West Africa would exceed 9,000 this week and the epidemic was still spreading in the region.
(Reporting by Stephen Brown and Reuters television; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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| Ebola victim being buried by workers with protective gear. |
The worst Ebola outbreak on record has killed more than 4,000 people -- mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- and has spread beyond West Africa, with a nurse in the United States and one in Spain having caught the disease from patients.
The U.N. medic, who has not been named, arrived in Leipzig last week and was the third Ebola patient to be treated in Germany. One was successfully treated and released from hospital, while another is still being treated.
"The patient sick with Ebola fever died during the night in St. Georg Clinic in Leipzig. Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by the medical team, the 56-year-old U.N. employee succumbed to the serious infectious disease," the German clinic said.
The volunteer medic was the second member of the U.N. mission, known as UNMIL, to contract and succumb to the virus.
"UNMIL colleagues are saddened by the tragic news as they continue to serve at this very difficult time. Our thoughts now are with the family and friends of the departed," UNMIL said.
Doctor Bernhard Ruf at the Leipzig clinic said, "we took measures of the highest standard to protect personnel and the environment, so there was no danger to others. We have also safely destroyed all material contaminated with Ebola."
The World Health Organization said the number of Ebola cases in West Africa would exceed 9,000 this week and the epidemic was still spreading in the region.
(Reporting by Stephen Brown and Reuters television; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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