UNITED NATIONS, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) spiked this week, surpassing the 1,000 mark, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

"The World Health Organization (WHO) says a marked increase in the number of Ebola cases in that country took place this week, highlighting the difficult environment and the multitude of challenges confronting the response to the outbreak," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"There have been 1,041 confirmed cases reported, including 629 deaths," Dujarric told reporters at a regular briefing. "Some 338 patients who received care at Ebola treatment centers have now been discharged."

"The WHO, working under the government's leadership and in collaboration with other agencies, says teams are working to build community trust and scale up the response in these areas," he said. "The agency reports that a recent shift in the response strategy to promoting greater engagement and ownership by affected communities is beginning to produce results."

Raids on Ebola virus treatment centers by "non-state actors," have been reported since the latest outbreak of the deadly disease in August, which further inhibited skeptical local people from seeking aid, including use of a vaccine for high-risk subjects, WHO has said.