Medical staff members of the Croix Rouge NGO carry on a stretcher the corpse of a victim of Ebola, after collecting it from a house in Monrovia, on September 29, 2014

The World Health Organisation says 4,033 people have died from Ebola virus infection, out of 8,399 reported cases.

The death toll covers seven countries, including the USA, by 8 October, according to WHO latest compilation, released in Geneva.

The death toll includes 2,316 in Liberia, 930 in Sierra Leone, 778 in Guinea, eight in Nigeria and 1 in the United States. The data include one case each in Spain and Senegal but no deaths. A separate Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 43 people out of 71 cases

In another development, UN deputy secretary-general said pledges of financial aid to fight Ebola have fallen far short of the $1 billion needed by the United Nations, with only one quarter of the amount raised.

Jan Eliasson also appealed for doctors, nurses and other health care personnel to come forward to work in desperately needed treatment centers to be set up in West Africa.

“Of the one billion dollars sought… only one quarter has been funded,” Eliasson told the UN General Assembly on Friday.

About $20 million separately has been pledged for a trust fund set up by the UN to help fund the international response to Ebola.

“We need more — we need much more,” Eliasson said.

The world’s worst outbreak of Ebola has killed close to 3,900 people and overwhelmed health care systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The United Nations has appealed for $1 billion to fund an international response that officials admit has been slow and has yet to catch up to the rapid-fire spread of the virus.

“Speed is of the essence,” said Eliasson. “A contribution within days is more important than a larger contribution within weeks.”

He called for a “surge” in trained health care personnel who can travel to work in treatment centers where hospitals and clinics have been unable to cope with the caseload.