The number of people with Ebola has risen to almost 10,000 in West Africa, the World Health Organization said, as the scramble to find a cure gathered pace. The UN's public health body said 9,936 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone the three countries at the epicentre of the world's worst-ever Ebola epidemic have contracted the disease, WHO said on Wednesday. In total, 4,877 people have so far died. The news comes as the Red Cross said it would be at least four months before the epidemic is contained, but only if all necessary steps are taken. "It will be possible, as it was possible in the past, to contain this epidemic within four to six months" if the response is adequate, said Elhadj As Sy, chief of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). But with experts warning the rate of infections could reach 10,000 a week by early December, researchers around the world are scrambling to beat the virus, for which there is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine.