Health workers take blood samples for Ebola virus testing at a screening tent in the local government hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone, June 30, 2014. 
 
 Sheik Umar Khan, head doctor fighting the deadly tropical virus Ebola in Sierra Leone, poses for a picture in Freetown, June 25, 2014. Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, has been transferred to a treatment ward run by... 
 
 FREETOWN The head doctor fighting an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has himself caught the disease, one of a growing list of medical workers infected while battling to halt its spread across West Africa. 
 
 Ebola has killed 632 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak began in February, putting strain on a string of weak health systems facing one of the world's deadliest diseases despite waves of international help. 
 
 In a sign of the growing frustrations with the failure of region's governments to tackle the outbreak, a Liberian whose brother died from the disease set fire to the Health Ministry in protest on Wednesday. 
 
 A statement from the president's office said 39-year-old Sheik Umar Khan, a Sierra Leonean virologist credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, had been transferred to a treatment ward run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. 
 
 A source at the ward confirmed that the doctor was alive and receiving treatment, but gave no details of his condition. 
 
 Khan has been hailed a "national hero" by the Health Ministry for his efforts to lead the fight against an outbreak that has killed 206 people in the West African nation. 
 
 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 around 60 percent. 
 
 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. Three days ago, three nurses working in the same Ebola treatment center alongside Khan died from the disease. 
 
 Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, said around 100 health workers had been infected by Ebola in the three countries, with 50 of them dying. 
 
 "Personal protection equipment is very hot. But there is a very strict procedure how you wear it, how you take it off, what can be re-used or not," he said. 
 
 Earlier this month, Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro, a senior Ugandan doctor working in Liberia died after treated infected patients. 
 
 "AFRAID FOR MY LIFE" 
 
 The latest WHO figures, released on Saturday, showed that there were 19 new deaths and 67 new cases within the four days since its previous statement. 
 
 The Ebola outbreak started in Guinea's remote southeast and has since spread across the region's poorly controlled borders. Symptoms of the highly infectious disease are diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding. 
 
 Part of Liberia's Health Ministry was destroyed on Wednesday when Monrovia resident Edward Deline set fire to the building in protest over the death of his 14-year-old brother from Ebola. 
 
 "The health (workers) here are not doing enough to fight this virus. They are taking this to be a money making thing while our people are dying," Deline told journalists after he was arrested by police. 
 
 Local and international health workers face a combination of fear, suspicion and local traditions for burying the dead as they try to prevent Ebola spreading further. [ID:nL6N0PO12H] 
 
 During a Reuters visit to the Kenema treatment center in eastern Sierra Leone in late June, Khan said he had installed a mirror in his office, which he called his "policeman", to check for holes in his protective clothing before entering an isolation ward. Nevertheless, Khan said he feared Ebola. "I am afraid for my life, I must say, because I cherish my life," he said in an interview, showing no signs of ill health at the time. "Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk." 
 
 (Additional reporting by Clair MacDougall, Alphonso Toweh and David Lewis; Writing by David Lewis and Emma Farge; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alison Williams) ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Health workers are battling to contain the deadliest outbreak of Ebola 
 
 A major West African airline has stopped flying to Liberia and Sierra Leone amid growing concern about the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. 
 
 Asky said it took the decision to keep "its passengers and staff safe during this unsettling time". 
 
 The number of people killed by the virus in West Africa has now reached 672, according to new UN figures. 
 
 In Sierra Leone, the doctor who led the fight against Ebola, Sheik Umar Khan, has died of the disease. 
 
 Government officials hailed Dr Khan, 39, as a "national hero". 
 
 The government disclosed last week that he was being treated for Ebola and had been quarantined. 
 
 His death follows that of prominent Liberian doctor Samuel Brisbane at the weekend. 
 
 Police deployed 
 
 Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected, but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment. 
 
 It spreads through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids. 
 
 The outbreak - the world's deadliest to date - was first reported in Guinea in February. It then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. 
 
 Image copyright other Image caption Liberia tied Independence Day celebrations on 26 July to efforts to create more awareness around Ebola 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption Greater emphasis is being placed on hygiene in an effort to contain the virus 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption People have also been urged to wear protective gloves 
 
 Asky is the second airline, after Nigeria's largest airline, Arik Air, to ban flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone. 
 
 It had not halted flights to Guinea, but passengers departing from there would be "screened for signs of the virus", Asky said. 
 
 Last week, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, reported its first case - that of Liberian finance ministry official Patrick Sawyer who flew to the main city, Lagos, in an Asky flight. 
 
 Liberia has deployed police officers at the international airport in the capital, Monrovia, to ensure passengers are screened for symptoms of Ebola. 
 
 Football ban 
 
 "We have a presence of the police at the airport to enforce what we're doing,'' said Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the Liberia Airport Authority. 
 
 "So if you have a flight and you are not complying with the rules, we will not allow you to board.'' 
 
 Ebola since 1976 
 
 Most border crossings in Liberia have been closed to contain the outbreak and affected communities are being quarantined. 
 
 Liberia has also suspended all football activities in an effort to control the spread of Ebola. 
 
 "Football being a contact sport - people are sweating - they do contact each other, and that could result in contracting the disease," the president of its football association, Musa Hassan Bility, told the BBC. 
 
 "It also has to do with the fans because whenever there is a game, a lot of people come together and we want to discourage gathering at this point," he said. 
 
 The association had also told football governing body Fifa to cancel trips to Liberia scheduled for August and September because "we do not want the life of the Fifa president [Sepp Blatter] to be exposed to this disease", Mr Bility said. 
 
 In a statement, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that 1,201 Ebola cases had been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 
 
 Of the 672 deaths, the highest number was in Guinea with 319, followed by Sierra Leone with 224 and Liberia with 129, it said. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The current outbreak is the deadliest since Ebola was discovered in 1976 
 
 The BBC's Jonathan Paye Layleh in Monrovia says that public awareness campaigns around Ebola have been stepped up in the city. 
 
 Many people are worried about the outbreak, and fewer people are going to restaurants and entertainment centres, he says. 
 
 Ebola virus disease (EVD) 
 
 Image copyright Science Photo Library ||||| Government health workers are seen during the administration of blood tests for the Ebola virus in Kenema, Sierra Leone, June 25, 2014. (Umaru Fofana/Reuters) 
 
 “I don’t believe in Ebola,” Craig Manning’s local driver told him as he chauffeured the viral emergency specialist through Freetown, Sierra Leone, where infection rates are rising. The man came from a rural part of the country where people were already dying from the virus. He was adamant, like many others in his community, that “there is no such thing as Ebola.” 
 
 He is wrong. The epidemic, the deadliest on record, continues to batter Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, with 85 new cases and 68 new deaths reported in only four days earlier this month, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Sierra Leone bore the brunt of new infections and deaths, with 49 new cases and 52 deaths reported. The total number of cases stands at 982, with 613 deaths as of July 17. 
 
 Yet, as the Ebola virus continues to spread in West Africa, so do the rumors. Some say you can contract Ebola from a motorcycle helmet. Others say you can cure the deadly virus by drinking Nescafé mixed with cocoa and sugar — or with two large onions. 
 
 It’s Manning’s job to take onions out of the equation. 
 
 A health communications strategist with the Viral Special Pathogens Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Manning was sent to Guinea at the first outbreak of the Ebola crisis in March. When one of his colleagues, Pierre Roland, an expert on Ebola, gave a presentation at the U.S. Embassy in Conkary about mitigating risks of transmission, Manning recorded him. He then had the edited 30 second snippets translated into 10 local languages and broadcast over local radio stations and TV. 
 
 When the virus spread to Sierra Leone, Manning followed it, teaming up with BBC Media Action to bring together radio station managers from across the country to help spread the word. 
 
 Manning said aggressive intervention is necessary to prevent more people from becoming infected, but ensuring local populations understand Ebola first is essential. For instance, in areas where the virus has spread, relatives wash bodies by hand before funerals, putting families at risk of new infections. 
 
 “People do not easily accept the idea that teams will take their deceased loved one, put them in a bag and bury them somewhere different,” said Manning. “The challenge is to strike a balance.” 
 
 
 
 Health workers carry the body of an Ebola virus victim in Kenema, Sierra Leone, on June 25, 2014. (Umaru Fofana/Reuters) 
 
 This balance demands communication, according to WHO spokesperson Daniel Epstein. 
 
 “There are a set of beliefs and myths that impede our messages about treatment – it is a huge challenge,” he said. 
 
 Doctors Without Borders has been unable to gain access to some affected areas due to hostility from the people there. Local communities fear outsiders are bringing the virus with them or want to exterminate the infected, since so few who get treatment return alive. 
 
 WHO is helping coordinate information sessions on Ebola to train local leaders how the virus is transmitted and how people can stop it. 
 
 “It is necessary for any group engaging in Ebola control to provide health education prior to initiating any other intervention,” said Rashid Ansumana, a researcher at Mercy Hospital Research Lab in the city of Bo, Sierra Leone, where 15 physicians treat a population of more than 150,000. Ansumana comes from the city of Kailahun, an epicenter of the outbreak, and said a large number of new infections are going undetected. His family lives in constant fear. 
 
 “One false rumor that is circulating is that health officials might inject suspected Ebola patients with lethal substances,” he said. He suggested HIV prevention protocols, which people are familiar with, can be used to explain how Ebola can be transmitted through blood or other body fluids. 
 
 In 2012, Mercy Hospital used the crowdsourcing platform Ushahidi to monitor an outbreak of the highly infectious Chikungunya virus, technology he believes could be employed to combat Ebola. 
 
 Crowdsourcing data during emergencies has become an important new way to quickly source information about people at risk and to locate the epicenters of the crisis, used to great effect during the earthquake in Haiti to aid a targeted, effective response. 
 
 “In West Africa, someone who has Ebola might not seek testing or treatment due to the monetary costs or the fear of getting a positive result for the virus, the impact and potential stigma that has for their family,” said Kathryn H. Jacobsen, associate professor for epidemiology at the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University. For diseases such as malaria, she said, people in this region will often go to a local pharmacy where medication is available without a prescription, rarely going to hospital. 
 
 “To have people reporting in cases through text messaging would be a very helpful system,” she said. 
 
 
 
 Healthcare workers prepare isolation and treatment areas in Gueckedou, Guinea, in March 2014. (Kjell Gunnar Beraas/MSF via AP) 
 
 WHO has been operating emergency Ebola hotlines in the affected countries that get 200 to 300 calls a day. The organization is exploring text messaging, since 40 percent of affected populations use mobile phones. 
 
 Doctors Without Borders have brought anthropologists on board in an attempt to better understand the traditions and cultures of the people they are treating. 
 
 While expert advice is important, the key to getting the message through to communities in more isolated areas is building a network of local spokespersons and engaging religious and cultural leaders. 
 
 There have been small victories. Manning said his driver had come to trust him. 
 
 One day, his driver tugged on his sleeve at a gas station. Out of the blue, he said: “I want you to speak to these people about Ebola.” ||||| (From L to R) Abdulsalami Nasidi, director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris and Lagos Special Advisor on Health Yewande Adesina, speak about the update on the Ebola outbreak during a news conference in Lagos July... 
 
 LAGOS The Nigerian city of Lagos shut and quarantined a hospital on Monday where a Liberian man died of the Ebola virus, the first recorded case of the highly-infectious disease in Africa's most populous country. 
 
 Patrick Sawyer, a consultant for Liberia's Finance Ministry in his 40s, collapsed on arrival at the Lagos airport on July 20. He was put in isolation at the First Consultants Hospital in Obalende, one of the most crowded parts of a city that is home to 21 million people. He died on Friday. 
 
 "The private hospital was demobilized (evacuated) and the primary source of infection eliminated. The decontamination process in all the affected areas has commenced," Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris told a news conference. He said the hospital would be closed for a week and the staff would be closely monitored. 
 
 Ebola has killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first diagnosed in February. The fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60 percent although the disease can kill up to 90 percent of those who catch it. Highly contagious, its symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding. 
 
 In Sierra Leone, which has the highest number of Ebola cases in the current outbreak at 525, President Ernest Bai Koroma visited an Ebola center in the northeastern district of Kenema. 
 
 An administration official said President Barack Obama was receiving updates, and noted that U.S. agencies had stepped up assistance to help contain the virus. 
 
 Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, said in a televised interview on Monday the outbreak was of "grave concern." 
 
 "We are very much present and active in trying to help the countries of the region and the international authorities like the World Health Organization address and contain this threat. But it is indeed a very worrying epidemic," Rice told MSNBC. 
 
 HOSPITAL STAFF, OTHERS MONITORED 
 
 Authorities were monitoring 59 people who were in contact with Sawyer, including airport contacts, the Lagos state health ministry said, but it said the airline had yet to provide a passenger list for the flights Sawyer used. 
 
 Derek Gatherer, a virologist at Britain's University of Lancaster, said anyone on the plane near Sawyer could be in "pretty serious danger," but that Nigeria was better placed to tackle the outbreak than its neighbors. 
 
 "Nigerians have deep pockets and they can do as much as any Western country could do if they have the motivation and organization to get it done," he said. 
 
 Nigeria's largest air carrier Arik Air has suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone because of the Ebola risk, Arik spokesman Ola Adebanji said in an email on Monday. 
 
 "RED ALERT" 
 
 David Heymann, head of the Centre on Global Health Security at London's Chatham House, said every person who had been on the plane to Lagos with Sawyer would need to be traced and told to monitor their temperature twice a day for 21 days. 
 
 The World Health Organization said in a statement that Sawyer's flight had stopped in Lomé, Togo, on its way to Lagos. 
 
 "WHO is sending teams to both Nigeria and Togo to do follow- up work in relation to contact tracing, in particular to contacts he may have had on board the flight," spokesman Paul Garwood said. 
 
 Liberia closed most of its border crossings and introduced stringent health measures on Sunday, a day after a 33-year-old American doctor working there for the relief organization Samaritan's Purse tested positive for Ebola. 
 
 Nigeria's airports, seaports and land borders have been on "red alert" since Friday over the disease. 
 
 Exacerbating the difficulty of containing the virus, Nigerian doctors are on strike over conditions and pay. 
 
 The WHO said that in the past week, its regional director for Africa, Luis Sambo, had been on a fact-finding mission to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which have 1,201 confirmed, suspected and probable cases among them. 
 
 "He observed that the outbreak is beyond each national health sector alone and urged the governments of the affected countries to mobilize and involve all sectors, including civil society and communities, in the response," the WHO said. 
 
 (Reporting by Tim Cocks, additional reporting by Oludare Mayowa in Lagos, Tom Miles in Geneva, Kate Kelland in London, Roberta Rampton in Washington, and Umaru Fofana in Freetown; writing by Toni Reinhold, editing by G Crosse)
– Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, one of the leading doctors fighting Sierra Leone's Ebola outbreak, died today of the virus in yet another high-profile casualty, reports the BBC. The death of the man hailed by the government as a "national hero" comes as Nigeria, the continent's most populous country, recorded its first case of the infectious disease, reports Reuters. The death was that of a Liberian consultant who collapsed in the Lagos airport on July 20, and health authorities have quarantined the hospital that cared for him. Meanwhile, American doctor Kent Brantly has a "grave" prognosis in Liberia as his family in Texas asks for prayers, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The 33-year-old tested positive last week. Liberia has closed its border crossings; Nigeria’s airports, seaports, and borders have been on "red alert"; and West African airports are screening passengers for signs of illness. Since February, 1,200 people have been infected with Ebola, and 672 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have died; the fatality rate in this outbreak is 60%. Here’s what you need to know about Ebola: It's possible that Ebola can jump from animals to humans through "bush meat" such as apes, monkeys, antelope, and porcupines, reports NBC News. Once an outbreak starts, it moves from person to person. The fatality rate is 50% to 90%. Early treatment is vital. The virus spreads through bodily fluids such as vomit and diarrhea; it’s infectious when the victim shows symptoms and remains so after the patient's death. Many have contracted Ebola by preparing a corpse for burial. Up to 60% of patients will bleed from the eyes and skin. There is no cure, and antivirals aren’t effective. The only way to get a diagnosis is with a blood test, adds the Wall Street Journal.