Ebola toll in DR Congo over 200, Uganda and 10 other African countries also at risk

‘High mobility and insecurity’ in the region are helping to spread the highly contagious virus, amid decades of conflict by armed groups

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late on Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases.

A 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 (WHO) toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected cases.

The WHO has declared the outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international emergency.

On Saturday, the African Union’s 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 Uganda.

“We have 10 countries at risk,” said Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, listing Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.