A contingent of 83 doctors and nurses departed Cuba late Tuesday for Guinea and Liberia, bringing to 256 the number of medical workers sent by Havana to fight the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

The state-run Granma newspaper reported on Wednesday that the plane carrying the "heroic" medical workers was seen off at the airport by President Raul Castro, as they head "to the epicenter of the global fight against Ebola."

The daily wrote that there were 35 doctors and 48 nurses in the medical team being sent to West Africa, in an arrangement reached with the World Health Organization.

Cuba already has sent 165 medical professionals to Sierra Leone, a much larger contingent than most Western countries.

The island's response to the epidemic, which has killed more than 4,500 people in west Africa, has won plaudits from humanitarian workers who say the international community's reaction has been lacking.