Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo said misinformation regarding the Ebola virus was hindering efforts to contain the outbreak, as official cases approached 1,000.

False claims about the virus, including that the epidemic was a hoax, have proliferated across the Central African nation, accelerating the spread of the disease in overcrowded displacement camps where hundreds of people often share a toilet, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile the World Health Organization said there were many “blind spots” in high-risk areas of the outbreak, suggesting official statistics could reflect a huge undercount. Despite the concerns, officials voiced hope that a vaccine may be ready for clinical trials within a couple of months.