BEIJING - A top Red Cross official says he is confident the Ebola epidemic can be contained within four to six months.

The secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Elhadj As Sy, told a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the time frame is possible if there is "good isolation, good treatment of the cases which are confirmed, good dignified and safe burials of deceased people."

The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people since it emerged 10 months ago. Most of the deaths have been in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The humanitarian network is holding its four-yearly Asia Pacific regional conference in the Chinese capital.