Trials are beginning on several drugs that have shown promise in preliminary studies against the virus that is causing the current outbreak.

The Bundibugyo virus, a little known type, previously had caused just two small outbreaks. Now it’s at the center of a rapidly widening epidemic in Africa.

Clinical trials in China are getting attention at an international oncology gathering in Chicago. China’s surging biotechnology industry is fueling alarm that U.S. dominance in the field is waning.

The babies were part of a vaccine trial for a respiratory virus in the 1960s and died shortly after. Their families said they had been unaware of the trial until recently.