People most at risk of contracting the deadly Ebola virus in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are now being given vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

A total of 3,220 doses have been made available to people living in North Kivu province where the outbreak is concentrated. The vaccine alliance Gavi has struck a deal with the drug's developers to provide additional doses of the vaccine that are still in the testing stage.

Forty-four people are believed to have been infected with the virus - of whom 36 have died.

The latest flare-up comes weeks after the WHO declared an end to a separate outbreak which killed 33 people in north-western DR Congo.