No impact from pledges of help, MSF says

Liberia has had the largest number of deaths from the virus

International pledges of deployments and aid for Africa's Ebola-hit regions have not yet had any impact on the epidemic, a major medical charity says.

Christopher Stokes of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the disease was still out of control.

He said it was "ridiculous" that volunteers working for his charity were bearing the brunt of care in the worst-affected countries.

The disease has killed about 4,500 people so far, mostly in West Africa.

MSF runs about 700 out of the 1,000 beds available in treatment facilities Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The BBC's Mark Doyle, at the UN Ebola logistics base in Ghana, says it is generally agreed that at least three times that number are needed.

Donors have given almost $400m (£250m) to UN agencies and aid organisations, following an appeal launched in September for $1bn.

Separately, the UN is seeking $1bn for an Ebola trust fund, to provide a flexible source of back-up money to contain Ebola.

But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday made another urgent appeal, saying the trust fund had received only $100,000 - from Colombia - though $20m has been pledged