Red Cross volunteers die from suspected Ebola in DR Congo

Red Cross volunteers die from suspected Ebola in DR Congo10 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleWedaeli ChibelushiandThomas Naadi,BBC AfricaAFP via Getty ImagesThe volunteers are thought to have been infected before the outbreak had been identified, the Red Cross saidThree 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 thought to be among the first to die in 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 outbreak "had not been identified" when Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane were working with the dead bodies, the IFRC said.They died between 5 and 16 May and had been working in the town of Mongbwalu, which is now considered the epicentre of the outbreak.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.The outbreak involves a rare species of Ebola, known as Bundibugyo, which has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.What is Ebola and why is stopping the latest outbreak so difficult?Why does Ebola keep on occurring in DR Congo?Health experts warn that touching the body of someone who died from Ebola can spread the virus because bodily fluids remain highly infectious after death.DR Congo's neighbour, Uganda, has also reported...