The Australian Government has put up another $10 million to help the fight against Ebola in West Africa, while experts calculate the ongoing needs and risks in the deadly outbreak.

With a death toll rising to near 3,500 people, authorities are still scrambling to get some kind of control on the issue, but they may have just weeks before the epidemic leaves Africa.

Researchers at Britain’s Lancaster University have used Ebola disease spread patterns and traffic data from transport around the world to predict the chance that the virus could make its way to Europe.

The study found a 75 per cent chance Ebola will be imported to France by October 24, with a 50 per cent chance for it to hit Britain by that date.

The numbers were based on air traffic movements at full capacity – under an emergency 80 per cent reduction in travel (as some airlines have planned), France’s Ebola risk would be 25 per cent, and Britain’s is 15 per cent at in the next fortnight.

France is considered one of the most likely countries to see an outbreak, because the current worst affected countries – Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia – have French as a central language and a large amount of people travelling back and forth.

While British Airways and Emirates Airlines have suspended some flights, The World Health Organisation (WHO) has no formal restrictions on travel in place, and actually encourages airlines to keep flying to the worst-hit countries so that people are not stranded unnecessarily.

The science journal PLoS Current Outbreaks has become a frequently-updated hub for all new studies and information on the epidemic.

The UN has set up the UN Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to bring together all the international aid efforts into a single, united front.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says “Australia shares the international community’s deep concern over the Ebola outbreak”.

But she stopped short of pledging anything other than money, despite repeated calls from workers on the ground that staff and facilities are most needed, not just untied funds.

“The Government has assessed that, at this stage, financial contributions are the best and most efficient way Australia can make a rapid contribution to the global response and support front line health services in the affected countries,” Ms Bishop said.

There has been some concern that Australia’s funding commitments will have a fairly low ceiling, after the Government cut $7.6 billion from the foreign aid budget over the next five years.