France, July 3 -- Health authorities say 1,460 confirmed cases have been recorded since the Ebola outbreak was declared on 15 May, while 447 have been killed by the disease, giving a fatality rate of 30.6 percent.

But in a potential breakthrough, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that a clinical trial of two experimental treatments began in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC_ on Thursday, with the first patient enrolled.

The study is testing the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir, both separately and in combination, against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or specific treatments.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the ...