Doctors, nurses and others fighting Ebola through "tireless acts of courage and mercy" have been named Time's 2014 Person of the Year.

"The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight," Nancy Gibbs, the magazine's editor, wrote.

Runners-up included Ferguson, Missouri, protesters; Russian President Vladimir Putin; Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani and Jack Ma, the China-based founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The number of reported cases of Ebola virus infections increased to 17,145 by the end of November, with 6,070 reported deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Some 6,055 deaths occurred in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and deaths have also been reported in other African countries and the United States.

Li Xin, an expert in infectious diseases at Beijing Ditan Hospital, said medical staff working in Africa fighting the disease are worthy of the title "Person of the Year", as they have played a crucial role in preventing the spread of the disease at personal risk to themselves.

"Due to an extreme lack of protection facilities, hundreds of medical workers in West Africa were infected with Ebola," said Li, who was among the first group of doctors sent to Guinea by the Chinese government in August to help fight the disease.