The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has recorded 1,460 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 447 deaths, as health authorities warned the outbreak remains severe and announced the start of a clinical trial to test potential treatments for the Bundibugyo strain.

According to the latest government figures released on Thursday, the outbreak has a case fatality rate of 30.6%. A total of 595 patients are currently in isolation or receiving hospital care, while 213 people have recovered.

Health authorities said the contact follow-up rate across the three affected provinces stands at 82.7%.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Jean Kaseya described the outbreak as "very serious," warning that the current surge in infections and deaths has been faster than in previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC at a comparable stage, as well as during the 2014–2016 West African epidemic.

DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba called for accelerated clinical trials of monoclonal antibody therapies and the development of effective vaccines against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no approved treatment currently exists.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said a clinical trial has begun enrolling patients in the DRC to evaluate potential therapies for Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease.

The trial will assess the effectiveness of the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug Remdesivir, both individually and in combination, to determine whether they can improve survival among patients infected with the Bundibugyo strain.