GENEVA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A Cuban doctor infected withEbola in Sierra Leone will be flown to Switzerland in the next48 hours for hospitalisation in Geneva, Swiss health authoritiessaid on Wednesday.
The doctor, identified by Cuba's official website Cubadebateon Tuesday as Felix Baez, is one of 165 Cuban doctors and nursestreating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. He is the first of thegroup, deployed since early October, known to be infected.
He is being evacuated from the West African country by aprivate American carrier, with the help of the World HealthOrganization (WHO), the Swiss Federal Office of Public Healthsaid in a statement. The WHO said it had no comment on the case.
"The University Hospital of Geneva, where he will bebrought, is ready to admit him in accordance withlong-established procedures that will ensure the security of allstaff and patients," the Swiss statement said.
A Geneva doctor specializing in infectious diseases isorganizing his care in a special hospital room separate fromother wards and outpatient clinics at the downtown hospital, itsaid. "The Swiss population is not at any risk."
Hospital staff have been trained and rehearsed procedures toput on and remove protective gear, the Swiss statement said.
Switzerland has offered to treat international healthworkers being evacuated with the virus in Geneva, home of manyinternational organizations, including the WHO, it said.
Geneva is one of two Swiss hospitals conducting trials ofexperimental vaccines against the virus, which has killed 5,177people in eight countries. The NewLink vaccine,developed by Canada, is being tested in Geneva, while theGlaxoSmithKline vaccine is being tested in Lausanne.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Angus MacSwan)