The UN Security Council has declared the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa a "threat to international peace and security".
The Council unanimously adopted a resolution 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".
He announced the establishment of an "emergency UN mission" working with the World Heath Organization (WHO) to combat the crisis, saying he would convene a "high-level meeting" next week.
The Council heard the international response had to be three times bigger than it was now to contain the crisis.
The resolution adopted by the Council also called for travel bans imposed by some states to be lifted, saying the countries needed to have access to aid instead of being isolated.
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