The World Health Organization (WHO) approved clinical trials for two new Ebola vaccines as part of the effort to control an outbreak that has killed more than 5,300 people in Africa.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the two candidates are ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna's mRNA-1469, developed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus. The National Institute of Biomedical Research of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is leading the trial, with support from partners including WHO; in October a trial had already begun with the Ervebo vaccine, approved for Ebola virus but not for Bundibugyo. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that the epidemic had killed more than 5,300 people, the vast majority in the DRC, with 10,444 confirmed cases and a fatality rate above 50%.