United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon has said the Ebola outbreak could be ended “by the middle of next year” if the world sped up its response.
However, he warned that although the rate of new cases was slowing in parts of West Africa - Mali, where six people have died, was now of deep concern.
More than 5,400 people have died from the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Mr Ban said international efforts to fight Ebola are helping to slow the rate of new infections in some areas.
However, he said increased infections in others and fears of further contagion in Mali indicate much work is still to be done.
He said more trained medical teams are needed, especially in remote districts of countries in West Africa.
Mr Ban said the coordinated efforts of country leaders and safer burial practices, combined with international support, are helping.
"If we continue to accelerate our response, we can contain and end the outbreak by the middle of next year," Mr Ban told reporters after a UN Chief Executives' board meeting in Washington, DC.
"I appeal to the international community to stay engaged," he said.
Still, he added, "the new chain of transmission in Mali is of course of deep concern."
All six known Ebola cases in Mali have died.
