The UN Security Council has declared the Ebola outbreak a threat to world peace and called on countries to provide urgent aid to West Africa, the epicentre of the growing crisis.
The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the number of Ebola infections - already more than 5000 - was doubling every three weeks, notably in Liberia.
It was only the third resolution on a public health emergency to be approved in the history of the UN. The council voted on measures to address the AIDS pandemic in 2000 and 2011.
The council heard a desperate appeal from Liberian medical aid worker Jackson Naimah for assistance to beat back the epidemic that has left at least 2600 dead in West Africa.
"Please send your helicopters, your centres, your beds and your expert personnel," said Naimah, speaking on video link from Monrovia.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"We do not have the capacity to respond to this crisis. If the international community does not stand up, we will be wiped out."
In its resolution, the council declared that the "unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constitutes a threat to international peace and security" and warned that "peacebuilding gains... could be reversed" in West Africa.
It called on countries to "provide urgent assistance, including deployable medical capabilities such as field hospitals" with staff and supplies, laboratories, clinics and to provide "support capabilities for airlift".
The measure also urged nations to lift travel and border restrictions, and asked airlines and shipping companies to maintain their links with affected countries.
World Health Organization director Margaret Chan said the Ebola outbreak is "likely the greatest peacetime challenge that the United Nations and its agencies have ever faced".
The UN has said nearly $US1 billion ($A1.08 billion) would be needed to defeat the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola, which is on track to infect 20,000 people by the end of the year.
