A healthcare worker dons protective gear before entering an Ebola treatment center in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone (Associated Press)
Havana:
A Cuban health worker sent to Sierra Leone as part of a team to help fight Ebola has died of malaria.
Cuban state television said Reinaldo Villafranca died on Sunday in a hospital in Sierra Leone's capital. The 33 year old Villafranca had a degree in nursing.
He showed symptoms of an illness on January 17. Tests came up negative for Ebola but positive for malaria. State television said his condition deteriorated on Sunday.
Villafranca is the second Cuban health worker to die of malaria in West Africa. The first, Jorge Juan Guerra Rodriguez, died last October 26 in Guinea. Dr. Felix Baez fell ill with Ebola in Sierra Leone in November, but recovered.
In response to a United Nations call, Cuba said it would send 461 health workers to Africa to fight Ebola.
Cuban state television said Reinaldo Villafranca died on Sunday in a hospital in Sierra Leone's capital. The 33 year old Villafranca had a degree in nursing.
He showed symptoms of an illness on January 17. Tests came up negative for Ebola but positive for malaria. State television said his condition deteriorated on Sunday.
Villafranca is the second Cuban health worker to die of malaria in West Africa. The first, Jorge Juan Guerra Rodriguez, died last October 26 in Guinea. Dr. Felix Baez fell ill with Ebola in Sierra Leone in November, but recovered.
In response to a United Nations call, Cuba said it would send 461 health workers to Africa to fight Ebola.
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