Official figures from the Democratic Republic of Congo released on Saturday show that the number of confirmed Ebola cases has surpassed 3,000.

It said this includes 1,354 deaths and 556 recoveries, while 755 patients remain in hospital or in isolation.

This updated figure comes just three days after officials reported more than 1,000 deaths from the outbreak which has now spread to five provinces.

The unprecedented rate at which cases are increasing and deaths are mounting has made it the fastest-spreading epidemic ever documented.

Halting the spread is complicated by the fact that the outbreak is unfolding in the eastern part of the country which is in the midst of an armed conflict.

Meanwhile, around 100 health workers at a treatment centre in Bunia, the epicentre of the outbreak, have gone on strike over unpaid performance bonuses, disrupting care for patients.

The epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the haemorrhagic virus for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment as yet.

The University of Oxford’s Vaccine Group said on Friday that a volunteer had received the first dose of a rapidly developed experimental vaccine for the strain.