An unusually high number of babies have become infected with the Ebola virus in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent days, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

In its latest update, the WHO says of 36 new cases over the week, seven were newborn babies and infants younger than two-years-old.

It is thought that mothers can pass on the virus through their breast milk.

The UN health agency also said it was concerned that informal health centres were contributing to the spread as proper disease controls were not in place and in some clinics syringes were being used more than once.

Two-hundred-and-nineteen people are thought to have died in what is DR Congo's worst-ever outbreak.