Sheik Umar Khan, the late top doctor in Sierra Leone's fight against the dreaded Ebola disease, who died on Tuesday at the Kailahun Treatment Centre in the east of the country and will be buried on Thursday, an official release said Wednesday.

"The corpse has been disinfected and conveyed to the Lassa Fever Mortuary in Kenema," a release from the country's Ministry of Health said.

In a tribute to Khan, Sierra Leone's sole virologist, the medical charity "Doctors without borders" said that "we are saddened by the death."

The tribute described the late doctor as "an extremely determined and courageous doctor who cared deeply for his patients. "

"His work and dedication have been greatly appreciated by the medical community in Sierra Leone for many years," said the tribute.

Government spokesman Abdulai Bayratay told reporters that "the government of Sierra Leone is devastated over Khan's death."

Figures released by the ministry in an update Wednesday disclosed that 129 patients have survived the disease and have been discharged from the treatment centres in Kenema and Kailahun.

"The cumulative number of laboratory confirmed cases are 500, and 167 were confirmed deaths. Eighty patients are currently admitted at both the Kenema and Kailahun Treatment Centres", the update said.