Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, a leading physician in the fight against the Ebola outbreak ravaging parts of Africa, has died of the very disease he helped to fight.

Reports of his death came on Jul. 29, less than a week after he was diagnosed with Ebola and quarantined in a hospital in Sierra Leone. Prior to his own illness, he had treated over 100 people suffering from the devastating disease. His specialized knowledge in hemorrhagic fevers and his heroic dedication to those infected make his loss especially poignant among those embroiled in the heart of the outbreak.

The scope of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is unprecedented. Historically, the virus has presented itself in sparsely populated areas that have allowed it to be easily contained. This time the disease is present in much more heavily populated towns in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Guinea.

To date, more 1,201 cases have been reported. The mortality rate with Ebola is at least 60 percent and so far 672 people have died. Guinea has reported the highest number of deaths at 319. Sierra Leone has reported nearly half of the total number of cases, tallying up a current total of 525.

Other medical professionals have contracted the disease as well. Dr. Samuel Brisbane, of Liberia, and Dr. Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro, of Uganda, have both fallen to the virus this month. Two American physicians are also being treated in Liberia.

Ebola has no treatment of vaccine capable of fending off its devastating effects. People who have contracted the illness are typically not contagious until they start showing symptoms. Early symptoms include a sore throat, aches and fever but as the disease progresses, internal and external bleeding can occur.

The virus is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, such as blood, saliva, urine and sweat. A person cannot contract the virus by simply breathing the same air as an infected individual. This puts family members and health care workers at the highest risks for contracting the disease.