Ebola in Sierra Leone 'spreading 9 x faster than 2 months ago', campaigners warn Virus is spreading nine times faster than two months ago in rural areas This is according to a report by the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) Spreading six times faster than two months ago in the capital Freetown Rates of the disease have plateaued in Liberia, but AGI doesn't know why Said burial management has 'significantly improved' in affected countries Death toll has risen to 5,000 people, according to latest official figures Cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone are still rising quickly, campaigners have warned. In rural parts of the country, the virus is spreading nine times faster than two months ago, a report from the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) found. AGI - an organisation set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - said rates are also increasing in the capital Freetown, with six times more new cases recorded per day than two months ago. The news comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised that the number of new cases of the disease is levelling off. The Africa Governance Initiative has warned that Ebola is spreading up to nine times faster than two months ago in some areas of Sierra Leone. Their report found a plateuing of infection rates in Liberia. Pictured here, Liberian healthcare workers collect the body of a victim on the outskirts of Monrovia Prayers are made for an Ebola victim in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The AGI report said rates are increasing quickly there, with six times more new cases recorded per day than two months ago The AGI said that burial management had 'significantly improved' in Liberia and Sierra Leone. here, health workers cover the body of a man suspected of dying of Ebola near Monrovia, Liberia Nick Thompson, AGI's chief executive, told BBC news: 'What we're seeing is a varied picture across the country. There are areas where it's still going up quite dramatically. Particularly in the western area, the rural areas, the area around and behind Freetown on the western peninsula. 'That's where you're seeing quite dramatic rises in cases, up to nine times more per day than two months ago. 'It's a very mixed picture, it's a changing situation within and across the country. It's still very much an acute crisis, there's no room for complacency even if response steps up.' The spread of the disease has only started to slow down in one area of Sierra Leone: Bombali, in the country's north, the report said. Mr Thompson added that the AGI did find that reports rates of the disease plateauing in Liberia, but they are not certain why. These are figures of deaths from Ebola up to October 29 There have been a total of 4,951 of deaths from Ebola, up to the 29th October. Liberia: 2,413 Sierra Leone: 1,510 Guinea: 1,018 Nigeria: 8 United States: 1 Mali: 1 Source: World Health Organisation He said that burial management has 'improved significantly' in Liberia and Sierra Leone, with an increased number of bodies buried in 24 hours. Being able to get bodies buried 'safely, promptly and with dignity' is going to be one of the key ways of breaking the chain of transmission, he added. Currently more than half of all infections of the virus are transmitted through dead bodies, because of local customs which involve washing the bodies of people who have died. Ebola is spread through blood or body fluids, including urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomit, breast milk, and semen of a person who is sick with Ebola It can also be spread from objects like needles and syringes that have been contaminated with the virus, or through infected fruit bats or primates. Last week, the AGI warned that even if existing international commitments are met by December, there could be a shortage of over 6,000 beds across Sierra Leone and Guinea. Nearly half of the beds currently planned in the three countries will lack the medical staff needed, their study found. AGI based its projections on the WHO's worst-case scenario, which forecast 10,000 new cases per week in December. Nick Thompson said: 'The international community badly misjudged the impact of the Ebola epidemic in its first few months and is compounding that error by failing to act quickly enough now.' United States, Briatin and Cuba have sent military and medical personnel to West Africa to help control the epidemic. Here, British troops deliver a training course at a nursing school in Freetown, Sierra Leone He called on more countries to follow the examples of the United States, Britain and Cuba, who have sent military and medical personnel to West Africa to support efforts to stop the epidemic at its source. The death toll from Ebola has risen to nearly 5,000 people - mainly across Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. At the end of October the WHO said there had been 13,567 cases since the outbreak began. Today, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned against 'uneccesarily' strict restrictions on the movement of health workers coming from West Africa. Canada and Australia have barred entry for citizens from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, while some U.S. states have imposed quarantines on health workers returning from these countries.