GENEVA: The Red Cross announced on Saturday that three volunteers had died in the Democratic Republic of Congo after apparently contracting Ebola while on duty there in March.
The central African country has been gripped by an outbreak of the deadly viral disease which the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an international public health emergency.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said the volunteers were from the DR Congo Red Cross in Ituri, the northeastern province which is the outbreak’s epicenter.
They worked for the Mongbwalu branch of the organization in Djugu territory, Ituri.
“Alikana Udumusi Augustin, Sezabo Katanabo and Ajiko Chandiru Viviane are believed to have contracted the Ebola virus on duty, while carrying out dead body management activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola,” the IFRC said in a statement.
