Cuban doctor with Ebola 'improving' in Geneva hospital

HAVANA (Reuters) - The Cuban doctor who contracted Ebola while treating patients in Sierra Leone is improving with each day and eating normally, though he is still weak, a Swiss hospital said on Friday.

Felix Baez, 43, arrived at University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) a week ago for treatment of the disease that has killed more than 5,600 people since March, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Baez is one of 256 Cuban doctors and nurses sent to West Africa to treat patients, a commitment that has won wide international praise for the poor, Caribbean island. "Today, Dr. Felix Baez is still weak and is recovering gradually. He is eating normally and his general condition is improving every day. He is in daily contact with his family," the statement said.

On Tuesday, the hospital had reported a significant decrease in the amount of the virus in his blood. Cuban officials previously said his fever was reduced before traveling from Freetown to Geneva on Nov. 20 and that he had lost his appetite.

Baez has been treated in a special room in an isolated area of the hospital by a team of five specialists employing strict safety protocols. He is the first Cuban known to have contracted Ebola in this outbreak, the worst on record with about 16,000 cases reported.

Some 165 Cuban doctors and nurses have gone to Sierra Leone for six-month missions, with another 53 in Liberia and 38 in Guinea.