Three new Ebola cases have been confirmed in Uganda, health authorities said on Saturday, after the World Health Organization raised the risk from the deadly outbreak to the highest level for neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The new cases bring to five the total confirmed in Uganda since the current outbreak was discovered in the east African country on May 15.

It named the patients as a Ugandan driver, a Ugandan health worker and a woman from the DRC, the epicentre of the outbreak, which the WHO has declared an international emergency.

"Three new cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) have been confirmed in the country," the Ugandan health ministry said in a statement on X.

All three are alive.

On Friday, the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to "very high".

The United Nations health agency said the regional risk in central Africa was "high", though it maintained the global risk was "low".

Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.

There have been 82 confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths in the DRC, alongside almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, the WHO said.

The 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 treatments.

The Red Cross, meanwhile, announced on Saturday that three volunteers had died in the DRC after apparently contracting Ebola while on duty there in March.

The IFRC said one had died on May 5 and the other two on May 15 and 16. (AFP)




Edited by Azam Khan