Israel on Friday held an Ebola preparedness drill in Ben Gurion International Airport, simulating the arrival of a passenger infected with the lethal virus, in which officials practiced initial questioning and evacuation to the hospital.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu the night before held an evaluation meeting with health and airport officials, in which he instructed an increase in Ebola safety measures at all points of entry to the country. 

Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev told AFP on Friday that the move was to be implemented immediately.

Ebola has already infected at least 9,000 people and killed over 4,500 in West Africa; the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Tuesday that with unofficial figures included, the disease is showing a 70% rate of mortality, much higher than its traditional 50% rate.

It also warned that by December the number of infections every single week in West Africa is liable to skyrocket to 10,000 people.

The disease has also spread to the US, where a Liberian man brought the virus in and two nurses who treated him have been infected. On Thursday, another scare occurred as a man from Nigeria died vomiting while on a plane to JFK Airport in New York - only to have health officials brush off Ebola concerns after a "cursory" exam.

Likewise on Tuesday, a UN worker infected with Ebola died after traveling to Liberia to treat the disease. There have also been several cases of infected British nationals recorded in Macedonia to the north of Greece, and a Spanish nurse became the first to contract Ebola outside of West Africa last week.

Israel also has had two Ebola scares last month, with one case in Jerusalem and another in a Tel Aviv suburb quickly being ruled out.