Three Red Cross volunteers 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 27 March 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 (IFRC) said they had died after serving their communities “with courage and humanity”.
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 (WHO) 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.
On Saturday, DR Congo suspended all commercial and private flights to and from Bunia – Ituri’s provincial capital – 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.
Its neighbour Uganda confirmed three new cases earlier in the day, 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, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said a tent it provided to aid the Ebola response in DR Congo’s 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.
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