NAIROBI — The Red Cross on Saturday paid tribute to three volunteers who are believed to have died after contracting Ebola during a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo in March, the organization has said.
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 (IFRC) said they had died after serving their communities “with courage and humanity”.
The three volunteers — Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo, and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane — are believed to have contracted the Ebola virus on duty, while handling dead bodies in the eastern region of Ituri as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola on March 27, IFCR said.
At the time of the intervention, the community was not aware of the Ebola outbreak, and it had not yet been identified. They are among the first known victims of the outbreak.
Health experts warn 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.
Uganda confirmed three new cases on Saturday, bringing its total infections to five, while the African Centres for Disease Control warned 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.
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”.
“Humanitarian, medical or emergency flights will only be authorised after special approval from the aviation and health authorities,” the country’s transport ministry said in a statement.
Elsewhere in the province, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said a tent it provided to aid the Ebola response in Mongwalu had been burnt on Friday.
It came a day after an angry crowd elsewhere in Ituri set alight part of a hospital after the family and friends 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: “Understandably, there are still many uncertainties and fears among the community in this rapidly evolving context.
“This incident highlights just 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 the two eastern areas are under the control of rebel group M23, whose clashes with government forces has brought additional difficulties in dealing with the virus.
Source: Saudi Gazette