Kinshasa, June 6 : The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 452, including 82 deaths, according to the latest situation report released by the country's health ministry.

According to the report, health authorities reported 71 new confirmed cases on June 4, including 21 deaths, in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, a sign of rapid and continuing community transmission amid the outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.

A total of 258 patients are in isolation or hospital care, while eight people have recovered, reports Xinhua news agency.

Contact tracing remains a major gap, the report said, noting that of 4,766 contacts under follow-up across the three provinces, only 2,755 have been seen, representing an overall follow-up rate of 57.8 per cent.

The DRC health authorities listed the main challenges facing the response, including resistance to post-mortem swabbing, insufficient standardised Ebola treatment capacity, weak contact tracing, shortages of essential medicines, inadequate infection-prevention supplies in North Kivu, poor alert reporting and a 21.5-million-US-dollar funding gap.

Uganda has also confirmed three new Ebola cases, bringing the cumulative number of infections to 19, the Ugandan Ministry of Health said on Friday.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday launched a continental Ebola outbreak preparedness and response plan, aiming to raise 518 million US dollars to support African countries in preparing for, rapidly detecting and responding to the outbreak for the period between June and November.

According to the Africa CDC and WHO, a total of 34 health workers have been infected with the Ebola virus so far, among whom seven died and six recovered.

Africa CDC and WHO have also highlighted major operational challenges, including a lack of available medical countermeasures to the Bundibugyo Ebola strain, weak health infrastructure, and pressure on health systems already battling multiple health emergencies, with resource constraints, high population mobility, insecurity and displacement, health worker infections, and misinformation and mistrust further compounding the situation.

To better coordinate efforts to contain the outbreak, the two institutions, during the press conference, launched a continental Ebola outbreak preparedness and response plan, aiming to raise 518 million U.S. dollars to support African countries to prepare for, rapidly detect and respond to the outbreak for the period between June and November.

/IANS