Number of cases nears 10,000

Geneva: The number of people with Ebola is set to hit 10,000 in West Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, as the scramble to find a cure gathered pace.

The UN’s public health body said 9,936 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone the three countries at the epicentre of the world’s worst-ever Ebola epidemic have contracted the disease.

In total, 4,877 people have so far died. With experts warning the rate of infections could reach 10,000 a week by early December, researchers around the world are scrambling to beat the tropical fever, for which there is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine.