The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday that the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa is continuing to spiral out of control, and that hundreds of doctors and nurses are needed from the global community and local governments in order to slow, and eventually stop, the transmission of the deadly virus. The WHO’s situation report said the virus is spreading especially rapidly in Liberia, including in the capital city of Monrovia.

“Today there is not one single bed available for the treatment of an Ebola patient in the entire country of Liberia,” WHO director-general Margaret Chan said at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland. “Our response is running short on nearly everything.”

Chan spoke alongside the Cuban health minister, Roberto Morales Ojeda, who announced that his country is sending 165 health care professionals to Sierra Leone, one of the countries hardest hit by Ebola. This constitutes the largest contribution of medical personnel to the outbreak to date, and this group includes physicians, nurses, epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists. The workers will deploy in early October and remain in Sierra Leone for six months. All of them have prior experience working in Africa, Prime Minister Ojeda said.

Chan praised Cuba for its commitment. “If we are going to go to war with Ebola, we need the resources to fight,” Chan said. “This will make a significant difference in Sierra Leone.”

Cuba has a long tradition of offering health care support to other nations that are experiencing a disaster, Ojeda said.

The WHO released a roadmap for Ebola response on Aug. 28, which said a massive global response, costing at least $500 million dollars, will be necessary to stop Ebola transmission in affected countries within six to nine months and prevent it from spreading internationally. So far, the WHO has received nearly $20 million in assistance from countries and foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with firm pledges of another $64 million from countries including the U.S. and Britain.

To date, there have been 4,784 cases with 2,400 deaths in the outbreak, all of which occurred in West Africa. That makes making this outbreak larger than all previous outbreaks of Ebola in history, combined. These figures are considered to be an underestimate, especially in Liberia, where many victims have died at home and were not reported to authorities.

Nearly half the total number of infections in West Africa have taken place during the past three weeks, according to WHO data.

In Liberia, each of the past three weeks has seen more than 200 new cases, the WHO reported. In the last week, new cases in Liberia doubled to 400, the WHO says. And treatment center beds are short in other countries too, including Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“There has been no indication of any down-turn in the epidemic in the three countries that have widespread and intense transmission (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone), with a surge in new cases in Liberia a particular cause for concern,” the WHO report says.

Chan added that there is a clear need for more healthcare workers, in addition to more treatment center beds for patients. “The thing we need most for is people, health care workers,” she said. “Money and materials are important, but those alone could not stop Ebola transmission.”

She said other countries, in addition to Cuba, are providing support, but that “we need to surge at least two to four times in order to keep up with the outbreak.”

She said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have been speaking with world leaders in recent days, and expect new commitments to be announced by the U.S., Britain, China and other countries soon. “I’m quite positive that more support will be forthcoming.” President Obama, for his part, is scheduled to be in Atlanta on Tuesday to visit with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss the Ebola outbreak.

BONUS: The Ebola Outbreak: What You Need to Know

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