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(CNN) –
The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing the worst Ebola outbreak in its history, officials said.
More than 200 people have died of the disease since August and nearly 330 confirmed or probable cases have been reported.
This epidemic – the second this year – began in North Kivu province before spreading to Ituri province in the east of the country. This is the tenth time since 1976 that the Ebola virus has hit the DRC.
Minister of Public Health of the country, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, said Sunday that violence against health officials and civilians exerted by militant groups fighting for control in the affected region had thwarted efforts to contain the epidemic.
According to the minister, two health workers died in an attack, while last month, 11 civilians and one soldier were killed in Beni, a city of 800,000 residents and the epicenter of the epidemic.
"No other epidemic in the world has been as complex as the one we are currently experiencing," Kalenga said in a statement. video statement posted on Twitter.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons are in North Kivu and Ituri. Their movement across provinces is a potential risk factor for the spread of the Ebola virus.
Congo has long been plagued by political instability and, as the country prepares for long-awaited and delayed parliamentary elections next month, it is particularly vulnerable.
Last month, WHO decided that the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC did not meet the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern.
This month, the organization said 27,000 people had been vaccinated against the Ebola virus in the country, but that WHO workers have often encountered resistance from some communities to allow them to vaccinate and bury the dead because of trust issues and misinformation.
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