Three Red Cross volunteers have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo from suspected Ebola, likely caught while managing dead bodies, the organisation has said.
They are believed to have contracted Ebola on March 27 while working in the eastern region of Ituri on a project unrelated to the virus, before the outbreak was identified.
The volunteers are among the first known victims of DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak, which has resulted in more than 170 suspected deaths and 750 suspected cases.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the volunteers had died after serving their communities with courage and humanity.
The victims were identified as Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane. They had been working in the town of Mongwalu, which is now considered the epicentre of the outbreak, and died between May 5 and May 16.
Health experts warn that the bodies of Ebola patients can spread the virus because bodily fluids remain highly infectious after death.
The outbreak involves a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.
On Friday, the World Health Organization raised the public health risk from the virus in DR Congo from high to very high. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the risk in the wider region in Africa was high but remained low globally.
Meanwhile, DR Congo suspended all commercial and private flights to and from Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri where most cases and deaths have been reported, to curb cross-border spread.
The country’s transport ministry said in a statement that humanitarian, medical or emergency flights will only be authorised after special approval from aviation and health authorities.
Elsewhere in the province, Médecins Sans Frontières said a tent it provided to aid the Ebola response in Mongwalu was burned on Friday. It came a day after an angry crowd elsewhere in Ituri set part of a hospital on fire after the family of a young man thought to have died from the virus were prevented from taking his body away for burial.
MSF said in a statement that there are still many uncertainties and fears among the community in this rapidly evolving context, adding that the incident highlights how critical sustained community engagement and trust building are.
Along with Ituri, cases have been detected in the North and South Kivu regions. Parts of these eastern areas are under the control of a rebel group, whose clashes with government forces have brought additional difficulties in dealing with the virus.
Uganda confirmed three new cases on Saturday, bringing its total infections to five, while the African Centres for Disease Control warned that 10 other countries on the continent were at risk from the outbreak. It named Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
