The Boston Globe – by Clarence Roy-Macaulay and Boubacar Diallo
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — One of Sierra Leone’s most senior physicians died Thursday from Ebola, the 11th doctor in the country to succumb to the disease, a health official said.
In neighboring Guinea, a fire destroyed medicine crucial to fighting Ebola. The fire engulfed a warehouse at the Conakry airport, said Dr. Moussa Konate, head of logistics for Guinea’s Ebola response.
The disease has sickened more than 18,600 people and killed about 6,900 of them, the majority in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.
Ebola has taken a particular toll on health workers, killing more than 350 and depleting the already-thin ranks of doctors and nurses.
The death of Dr. Victor Willoughby, 67, who tested positive for Ebola on Saturday, was a major loss for Sierra Leone, said Dr. Brima Kargbo, the country’s chief medical officer.
He died Thursday morning, just hours after an experimental drug arrived in the country for him. The arrival of ZMAb, developed in Canada, had raised hopes for Willoughby’s survival. But he died before a dose could be administered, said Kargbo.