Mr Pompeo accused Cuba of profiting from the pandemic, the AFP news agency reports.

"We applaud leaders in Brazil and in Ecuador and Bolivia and other countries which have refused to turn a blind eye to these abuses by the Cuban regime," Mr Pompeo said.

"And [we] ask all countries to do the same, including places like South Africa and Qatar."

The team of Cuban medics arrived in the African nation on Sunday night. They include family physicians, epidemiologists, biotechnology experts and health-care technology engineers.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel reacted to Mr Pompeo by tweeting: "The United States lie deliberately when they attack Cuba's international medical cooperation with lies and slanders."