Health workers carry a coffin containing a victim of the Ebola virus on May 16, 2019 in Butembo.
(Image credit: JOHN WESSELS/AFP/Getty Images)

Just two months shy of its first anniversary, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still raging.

Total cases since the epidemic began in Aug. 2018 surpassed 2,000 this week, reports Axios. A World Health Organization official says the outbreak could take up to two years to contain in a "worst-case scenario," per CNN.

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Both the WHO and other aid groups are contributing resources in attempts to contain the crisis, but another problem remains in community members not trusting health staffers and aid groups to diagnose and treat them. Distrust in these groups prevents many people from coming in after showing symptoms.

This is the world's second-largest outbreak on record, after 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths ravaged West Africa from 2014-16.

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Marianne Dodson

Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.