(Source: “Sierra Leone’s top Ebola doctor gets virus,” 24 July 2014, Aljazeera)

The Ebola outbreak started in Guinea’s remote southeast in February and has since spread across the region.

Symptoms of the highly infectious disease are diarrhoea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding.

Three days ago, three nurses working in the same Ebola treatment centre alongside Khan died from the disease.

The head doctor fighting the deadly tropical virus Ebola in Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease, the president’s office said, as the West African outbreak claimed more victims.

It was not immediately clear how Khan had caught the virus.

His colleagues told Reuters that he was always meticulous with protection, wearing overalls, mask, gloves and special footwear.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which can kill up to 90 percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the current outbreak is lower at around 60 percent.