West Africa's Ebola-hit nations have agreed to impose a cross-border isolation zone at the epicentre of the world's worst-ever outbreak, amid warnings that the deadly epidemic is spiralling out of control.

Reports that an Australian couple abandoned a baby with his surrogate mother in Thailand because he has Down Syndrome have raised fears Australia will ban international surrogacy, a support group said Saturday.

With 20,000 citizens living in three countries affected by an Ebola outbreak, Lebanon is taking a series of measures to prevent the virus reaching its shores, government officials said Friday.

Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, during a tour of Beirut airport, said the ministry "has asked all airlines, particularly those bringing people from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, to inform Lebanese authorities about anyone displaying suspicious symptoms."

Dubai's Emirates Airline is to suspend flights to Guinea, one of three African countries hit by an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, a company spokesperson told Agence France Presse on Friday.

"Emirates will be suspending its service to Conakry from (Saturday) 2 August, 2014 until further notice, due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Guinea," a spokesperson said in emailed comments.

The U.S. Senate Thursday adopted a law reforming health care for millions of veterans, following a string of crises over overcrowding and delays at military health facilities.

The bill, which was ushered through the chamber in a 91-3vote just ahead of summer recess, aims to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs and reform veteran care.

U.S. scientists have identified a gene mutation that appears to be common in people who attempt or commit suicide, a finding that could lead to a blood test to predict risk.

British scientists are to map 100,000 complete DNA code sequences in a project that will make the country a world leader in genetic research on cancer and rare diseases, the prime minister said on Friday.

The deaths of 57 more people from Ebola in west Africa have pushed the overall fatality toll from the epidemic to 729, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The 57 deaths were recorded between Thursday and Sunday last week in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the U.N. health agency said in a statement.

Sierra Leone leader Ernest Bai Koroma declared a state of emergency on Thursday and cancelled a planned trip to the US-Africa summit as the country struggled to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic.

Japan's smoking rate has dropped below 20 percent for the first time, according to a new survey, as a recent rise in cigarette prices helped to further discourage the habit.