High risk of Ebola spread, warns UN

More than 6,000 people have now died from Ebola, the vast majority in this corner of West Africa

The United Nations Ebola mission chief has said there is still a "huge risk" that the deadly virus could spread to other parts of the world.

Anthony Banbury was speaking to the BBC in Freetown, the capital and one of the worst-affected areas of Sierra Leone.

Banbury declined to say if targets he had set in the fight against Ebola had met Monday's deadline.

The targets were for the proportion of people being treated and for the safe burial of bodies.

In October, Banbury told the UN Security Council that by December, "70% of all those infected by the disease must be under treatment" and "70% of the victims safely buried" if the outbreak was to be halted.

This interim goal was set to try to bend down the upward curve in the graph of cases. The ultimate UN goal is zero Ebola deaths,

Banbury said the targets were being met in "the vast majority" of areas in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

But in some areas, including in the capital of Sierra Leone, "we are falling short".

"It is in those areas where we really need to focus our assets and our capabilities," he added.

Almost 7,000 people have now died from Ebola in West Africa and more than 16,000 have been infected.

The latest figures show that between 200 and 300 people are still dying every week.

But Banbury said the situation would have been even worse if the UN had not intervened.

"Early on we adopted a strategy to get this crisis under control which involves treatment centres, safe burials and community mobilisation," he said. "That strategy is working."

Despite the UN's actions, there was still a "huge risk" that Ebola "may spread around this sub-region, or someone could get on a plane to Asia, Latin America, North America or Europe," added Banbury.

"That is why it is so important to get down to zero cases as quickly as possible."