The Philippines urged its large Muslim minority on Thursday to reconsider plans to join pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia this year due to a deadly virus outbreak there.

About 6,500 Filipinos who are set to join the annual Hajj pilgrimage in October are being urged to go next year instead, when the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is expected to be under control, health department spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said.

The United Nations reassured west Africa on Wednesday that the world's deadliest-ever Ebola epidemic could be stopped in its tracks, telling the region's health ministers: "We can handle this."

The highly-contagious tropical bug has infected hundreds of people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures showing confirmed or suspected cases had left 467 people dead.

Britain is to lead a global effort to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs that threaten to knock medicine "back into the dark ages," Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday.

Unless new antibiotics are found, the rise of untreatable bacteria threatens a "unthinkable scenario" where once-treatable minor infections become fatal, he said.

A former Iowa State University scientist pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges alleging that he falsified research for an AIDS vaccine to secure millions of dollars in federal funding.

Dong-Pyou Han, 57, entered his not guilty pleas to four counts of making false statements during his initial court appearance in Des Moines federal court. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Health ministers from across western Africa gathered on Wednesday to plan "drastic action" against the world's deadliest-ever Ebola epidemic as dozens of new cases continued to emerge.

There have been 759 confirmed or suspected cases of the haemorrhagic fever in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, with 467 people dead.

Bone marrow transplants can reverse severe sickle cell disease in adults, a small study by government scientists found, echoing results seen with a similar technique used in children.

The researchers and others say the findings show age need not be a barrier and that the technique may change practice for some adult patients when standard treatment fails.

The number of people believed to have died from Ebola in west Africa has risen sharply to 467, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

Giving the latest update on the disease which has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the WHO said there have now been 759 confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola in the region.

French cosmetics giant L'Oréal has agreed to stop claiming that some of its high-end skin care products prevent signs of aging, under a deal with the Federal Trade Commission to stave off legal proceedings on grounds of misleading advertising.

The FTC had targeted L'Oreal's skin care lines Lancôme Génifique and L'Oréal Paris Youth Code for stating they featured "scientifically proven" features against signs of aging.

Malaysia has set up a task force to combat dengue fever as deaths from the mosquito-borne tropical disease have soared, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday.

Najib said he hoped the task force led by his deputy would be able to curb the spiraling number of cases, according to local media reports.

Japanese prosecutors Tuesday laid charges against the local unit of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis in a widening scandal over claims that falsified data were used to exaggerate the benefits of a popular blood-pressure drug.

Prosecutors also indicted former employee Nobuo Shirahashi, 63, alleging he manipulated the data in clinical studies that were later used in marketing the drug Valsartan.