A Dutch doctor has died in "strict isolation" in hospital after being evacuated from Africa with an Ebola-like virus that causes hemorrhagic fever.

The medic is believed to have been infected while performing a Caesarean Section in Masanga, a town in northern Sierra Leone. 

"He developed signs of fever, headache, and general malaise," said Sierra Leone's Health Ministry, "and was treated for typhoid, malaria, and influenza but symptoms persisted."

A colleague was also infected and flown home and is being treated for the Lassa Virus.  And Public Health England (PHE) said three British people who had stayed in Sierra Leone and had close contact with the Dutch pair had been repatriated to be medically assessed and treated, if deemed necessary.

Lassa is endemic to that area of western Africa, and there is no vaccine.  It can be transmitted by bodily fluids, food, or rodent droppings or urine.  Once infected, a patient experiences fever with aches and pains, which progress to headache, vomiting, and diarrhoea.  The worst cases can include bleeding from the mouth and nose, but only about one percent of all cases end with death.