The 39-year-old doctor leading the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone has died from the virus.
The country’s chief medical officer says Dr. Umar Khan died Tuesday afternoon.
Khan’s death comes less than a week after he tested positive for Ebola, and on the same day that Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma was due to visit his treatment center in the northeastern town of Kailahun.
The young doctor, credited with treating more than 100 Ebola patients, was a national hero in Sierra Leone.
Three nurses at the same facility, about 300 kilometers east of the capital city, Freetown, where Khan worked have died from the virus.
The current Ebola outbreak began in February and health experts are calling it the worst on record.
The World Health Organization in a report updated on Saturday said Ebola has killed at least 672 people in West Africa.
The WHO said 319 people have died from Ebola in Guinea. It also reported 224 deaths in Sierra Leone and 129 in Liberia.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola. The virus causes symptoms that include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and unstoppable bleeding.
