Ebola Orphanage Worker Dies in Sierra Leone

A Sierra Leonean who worked with children orphaned by Ebola has died of the disease himself. Augustine Baker had been admitted to an Ebola treatment centre after becoming ill last week.

The orphanage where he worked is run by a UK charity in Sierra Leone and was quarantined after Baker was diagnosed with the deadly ebola virus. He was said to be in stable condition when admitted to a local treatment centre after becoming ill last week.

A report says Augustine collapsed at a staff meeting and several of his colleagues helped get him to hospital, and it’s possible that they have been exposed. The quarantine at the St. George Foundation orphanage is self-imposed, and is expected to last for three weeks.

Augustine Baker was an unsung hero.

At the height of the Ebola crisis he would go into high-risk communities to help children who had been orphaned by the disease.

With his backpack on and his notebook and pen handy, Mr Baker would collect data and go and find the children to take them to the orphanage.

His colleagues, who are locked in quarantine at the orphanage, were grieving as news of his death broke.

The death toll from the current outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease has risen to 9,380, the World Health Organization has said.

The number of confirmed infections also rose to 23,253 in new statistics reflecting the situation as at February 15.

A total of 128 new cases were reported within the week with 74 of those being from Sierra Leone, 52 from Guinea and two from Liberia.