DR Congo Ebola deaths pass 1,000

The number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's most recent outbreak exceeded 1,000 on Friday, the Congolese Health Ministry said.

The outbreak that was declared in eastern Congo in August is already the second deadliest in history, and efforts to control it have been complicated by attacks on hospitals and Ebola treatment centers and deep community mistrust.

"Every time we have managed to regain control over the virus and contain its spread, we have suffered major, major security events," said Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization (WHO) emergencies chief. "We are anticipating a scenario of continued intense transmission [of the disease]."

As of May 1, there have been 1,510 Ebola cases in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, with 994 deaths, but that number surpassed 1,000 when Congo's Health Ministry released its daily figures on Friday.

Ryan said the WHO was planning to expand vaccination with a new Ebola vaccine, in addition to a Merck vaccine that has already been given to more than 109,000 people.