WHO turns down request for funds to evacuate doctor

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — The World Health Organization has turned down a request from Sierra Leone for funds to evacuate a doctor sick with the deadly Ebola disease. Instead, the U.N. agency says it will work to give “the best care possible” to the doctor in Sierra Leone, including access to experimental drugs.

Dr. Olivet Buck is the fourth doctor from Sierra Leone to come down with Ebola. The other three died.

He would have been the first citizen from one of the countries hit hardest by Ebola to receive treatment abroad.

The worst Ebola outbreak in history has been blamed for 2,400 deaths across West Africa, with Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea recording the most cases.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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