(BBC) Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 1,000, the health ministry says.

DRC’s Ebola outbreak began in August and is the second deadliest in history.

World Health Organization deputy director Dr. Michael Ryan said mistrust and violence were harming efforts to tackle the disease as it spread through the east of the country.

There have been 119 documented attacks on medical centers and staff since January, Dr. Ryan said.

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WHO staff anticipated “continued intense transmission”, he added, in a briefing to reporters in Geneva.

Health workers have plenty of vaccines – more than 100,000 people have already been given the treatment. But continuing violence in the east of the country where militias are present, as well as mistrust of doctors, was hindering their programme, Dr. Ryan said.

“We still face major issues of community acceptance and trust,” he said.

The WHO said the risk of a global spread is low, but it was very likely cases would spread into neighbouring countries.

Most Ebola outbreaks are over quickly and affect small numbers of people. Only once before has an outbreak been still growing more than eight months after it began – that was the epidemic in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, which killed 11,310 people.

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