Cuban MD Contracts Ebola in Sierra Leone
HAVANA TIMES – A Cuban doctor who battled Ebola in Sierra Leone was infected with the disease and will be transferred to Geneva, Switzerland, reported dpa news on Tuesday.
Felix Baez Sarria, one of 165 Cuban collaborators who traveled to Sierra Leone in October, developed symptoms of Ebola on November 16, informed the Cuban Ministry of Health. A day later he tested positive for the disease.
The patient has no complications yet and his health condition is stable, according to the Cuban health authorities.
Baez, who is being treated by British physicians in Africa, will be transferred to a World Health Organization (WHO) specialized clinic in Switzerland to continue being treated.
Cuba has been at the forefront of the international fight against Ebola sending 256 doctors and health workers to the three countries most affected by the epidemic in Africa.
In addition to the 165 Cubans in Sierra Leone, the government of Raul Castro sent 91 other health workers in Liberia and Guinea in mid-October. According to the latest WHO figures, Ebola has killed 5,177 people of the 14,413 infected in a total of eight countries.
Cuban authorities reported in recent weeks that the Cuban health workers that may be infected with the disease in West Africa would not be repatriated to Cuba.
According to the representative of the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Havana, José Luis Di Fabio, the agreement between the organization and Cuba provides for the best possible treatment any Cuban personnel infected “in the field.”
No, the UK sent military before they sent medical personnel.
Cuba was one of the nations that offered much needed assistance early on…
And I am not Cuban either
It is totally incorrect to say that “Cuba has been at the forefront of the international fight against Ebola. Medicin sans Frontier has been actively involved since the virus first made inroads – well over a year ago. The US, UK, and several European countries have also been involoved for several months and have erected numerous hospitals in that period. . The Cuban contingent left for Africa on October 1, 2014. to join the thousands of others already there endeavoring to contain the outbreak.
I have equal respect for all those doctors and medical staff who serve when viral outbreaks occur as it places them in direct contact with those infected. This has been the case with other outbreaks including HIV and SARS. Care should be taken to not allow provision of services to become a political credit.
Having been in a few Cuban hospitals, I can understand why the Cuban Doctor is being transferred to Switzerland for treatment. I wish him well.
My prayers and best wishes go out to this courageous Cuban doctor. I hope the Swiss doctors will be able to save him.
Hoping for the very best, is it clear that once this Cuban doctor has recovered, will he be allowed to return to Cuba? Imagine if the US refused to allow one of our citizens to return to the US for treatment? Dictatorships can do such things with impunity. A democracy like the US must respond to the will of the people.