A nurse demonstrates Ebola gear (Photo: AP)
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) – A Cuban doctor who was cured of Ebola after contracting it in Sierra Leone said Monday he will go back to West Africa to fight the deadly virus.
Felix Baez, 43, will return to the region in January after ensuring he is fully recovered, he told state newspaper Granma.
“I feel very well physically and emotionally,” Baez said.
“My recovery has been good, I’m resting and enjoying the company of my family.”
His wife said she supported her husband’s decision.
“Of course, I know him, and it could be no other way,” his wife Vania Ferrer said.
“We support his decision.”
Baez developed symptoms of the disease in Sierra Leone on November 16 and was transferred to Switzerland for treatment four days later.
After being cured, Baez returned to Havana on December 6.
“I was always convinced I would overcome this disease and I told my colleagues ‘don’t worry, I’ll return,'” Baez said.
Baez was given ZMab, a medication similar to the experimental ZMapp, as well as Favipiravir, a Japanese medication normally used to fight the flu.
Cuba has sent 256 doctors and nurses to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the three countries hardest hit by Ebola.
The outbreak has killed more than 7,600 people with nearly 20,000 recorded cases, almost all in those three countries.
