A trial of potential treatments for the strain of virus behind the current deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has begun, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.

The first patient has been enrolled in the DRC, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.

More than 1,400 cases and 438 deaths have been confirmed in the DRC alone, according to the WHO.

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus strain of the disease, which is highly infectious.

The current trial is sponsored by the WHO, and is being co-ordinated by scientists at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in DRC, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and the University of Oxford in the UK.

Speaking to reporters from the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, Tedros said: “The clinical trial of two therapeutics began, with the enrolment of the first patient.

“Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit,” the WHO head said.