Ebola death toll in DR Congo rises to 204 as outbreak spreads across region; WHO declares emergency

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late Saturday hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola casesA health ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast central African country from 867 suspected cases The last World Health Organization toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected casesThe World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international emergencyOn Saturday the African Unions health agency warned that more countries on the continent were at risk of being affected by the Ebola virus in addition to the DRC and UgandaWe have 10 countries at risk said Jean Kaseya head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Africa CDC listing Angola Burundi the Central African Republic the Republic of Congo Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda South Sudan Tanzania and ZambiaKaseya said high mobility and insecurity in the region were helping spread the diseaseThe new cases confirmed in Uganda on Saturday bring to five the total confirmed in the east African country since it was detected there and in the DRC on May 15 One person in Uganda has diedThe health ministry named the new patients as a Ugandan driver a Ugandan health worker and a woman from the DRC All are aliveEbola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids It can cause severe bleeding and organ failureThe current epidemic centres on the conflictwracked eastern DRC where it was detected in Ituri province which borders Uganda before spreading to South KivuFirst known victimsThe Red Cross said on Saturday that three Congolese volunteers had died in Ituri after apparently contracting Ebola thereThe three were carrying out dead body management activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies IFRCAt the time of the intervention the community was not aware of the Ebola virus disease outbreak They are among the first known victimsEbola has killed more than 15000 people in Africa in the past halfcenturyOn Friday the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to its highest level very highIt said the risk in central Africa was high but the global risk remained lowThe outbreak which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time is caused by the less common Bundibugyo strain for which there are no approved vaccines or treatmentsOn Thursday Uganda suspended public transport to the DRC after confirming its first two cases one infection and one death involving Congolese nationals who crossed the borderIt said the driver confirmed infected on Saturday had been at the wheel of the vehicle in which one of the ill Congolese nationals had travelled to UgandaThe health worker was exposed to the virus when treating that Congolese patientThe third case was a Congolese woman who had visited Uganda and tested positive for Ebola after returning to the DRCEveryones problemThe eastern DRC has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving numerous armed groups State services in rural areas of Ituri have been largely absent for decadesSouth Kivu is controlled by the Rwandanbacked armed group M23 which has never had to manage an epidemic like Ebola This is everyones problem Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told a news conference in Addis Ababa alongside KaseyaHe said the Kinshasa government needed to have total control of the DRC territory to stop the virus spreadingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever