Sheik Umar Khan
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Trained at Korle Bu[1]
Sheikh Humarr Khan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 March 1975 |
| Died | 29 July 2014 (aged 39) |
| Education | University of Sierra Leone Trained at Korle Bu[1] |
| Known for | Ebola isolation ward |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Chief Medical Officer |
| Research | Lassa fever,[2] Ebola |
Sheik Umar Khan (6 March 1975 – 29 July 2014) was the chief Sierra Leonean doctor attempting to curb the country's Ebola outbreak in 2014.[3]
The virologist is credited with treating over a hundred patients before succumbing to the virus himself. He was recognized as a "national hero" by Sierra Leone's Health Ministry.[4] Khan had long worked with Lassa fever, a disease that kills over 5,000 a year in Africa. He had expanded his clinic to accept Ebola patients. Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma, celebrated Khan as a "national hero".[5] He had a habit of hugging the cured Ebola patients that were leaving his ward, to lift their spirits.[6]
Graduated from University of Sierra Leone’s College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences in 2001 and finished his internship in 2004, he became new chief physician of the Lassa Fever Research Program at Kenema Government Hospital in 2005 after his predecessor, Dr. Aniru Conteh, died from Lassa fever after a needlestick accident.[7] Khan was a resident at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital from 2010 to 2013.[2]
