Kinshasa, July 25 (QNA) - Healthcare authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) announced on Saturday that the death toll from the Ebola virus has risen to 1,309.

The authorities said that, as of July 23, the total number of confirmed Ebola cases had reached 2,973, including 1,309 deaths.

As part of efforts to combat the latest rare strain of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of clinical trials for two experimental treatments, as well as the emergency-use authorization of the first molecular diagnostic test specifically designed to detect this strain.

Last week, the WHO had also launched the first clinical trial to evaluate the safety of the ChAdOx1 vaccine, led by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

The WHO had warned that the Ebola virus remains one step ahead, stressing that health teams are still working to keep pace with its evolving spread. (QNA)