United Nations Security Council has declared the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa as a threat to international peace and security.
A resolution was unanimously adopted by the council, calling on states to provide more resources to combat the outbreak.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned an emergency meeting of the council that the number of Ebola infections was doubling every three weeks.
More than 2,600 people have now died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record.
Mr Ban said the "gravity and scale of the situation now require a level of international action unprecedented for a health emergency"
The UN heard that the international response would need to be 20 times greater than it is now if the outbreak were to be controlled, as the number of cases is doubling every two weeks in west Africa.
He announced the establishment of an "emergency UN mission" working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat the crisis, saying he would convene a "high-level meeting" next week.
The resolution attracted 130 co-sponsors - a UN record - and calls on countries to provide urgent aid, such as medical staff and field hospital.
Reports have it that it is only the second time that a public health issue has been addressed at the council, the first instance being HIV/Aids.
Source: BBC
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