The United Nations' Ebola response mission has admitted it is going to miss its target for beating the deadly epidemic in Sierra Leone due to a chronic shortage of hospital beds.
The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) set a "70-70-60" goal in early October to isolate and treat 70 per cent of suspected Ebola cases in west Africa and safely bury 70 per cent of the dead within 60 days.
"The 70-70-60 national strategy is unlikely to be met on December 1," Amadu Kamara, UNMEER's crisis manager for Sierra Leone, told a news conference in the capital Freetown.
"We will not be able to meet the deadline because we've not been active in isolating possible infected cases by taking them to holding and treatment centres.
"There have been a combination of factors including finding treatment centres and beds for infected people."
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UNMEER chief Anthony Banbury warned in October that Ebola numbers risked rising "dramatically" and overwhelming the response if the target, announced jointly with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank, wasn't achieved.
The agency estimated last week that Sierra Leone would need 1864 treatment centre beds by December 1, while just 356 beds are currently available.
Britain is taking the international lead role in tackling Ebola in Sierra Leone due to its historic links with its former colony, which gained independence in 1961.
It has committed STG225 million ($A411 million), which includes providing 700 treatment beds expected to be ready by January.
The global death toll from Ebola stands at 5689 out of 15,935 cases of infection, almost all in west Africa.
The WHO believes that the number of deaths is probably far higher, given the difficulty in collecting comprehensive figures and with Ebola having a high fatality rate.
The agency has logged 1398 deaths in Sierra Leone, which is still experiencing "intense transmission" while Guinea and Liberia appear to be stabilising, it said.
