DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has said the global community has not done enough to respond to the crisis posed by the Ebola outbreak that is currently spiralling out of control in West Africa.

"There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be," Obama said on Thursday while addressing a high-level UN meeting on Ebola.

The crisis in West Africa is the largest ever outbreak of Ebola, with more than 6,200 people believed to have been infected, almost half of whom have died, reports Al-Jazeera.

US health officials have warned that the number of infected people could explode to at least 1.4 million by mid-January, though they have also cautioned that the total number could peak well below if efforts are ramped up.

Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organisation, addressed the Ebola meeting before Obama and warned that the outbreak would likely get worse before it got better. The virus, she said, is "still running ahead, jumping over everything we put in place to slow it down".

BDST: 1258 HRS, SEP 26, 2014