Aid agency Oxfam says Ebola could become the “definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation”.

Oxfam, which works in the two worst-hit countries – Liberia and Sierra Leone – called for more troops, funding and medical staff to be sent to tackle the west African epicentre of the epidemic.

• Ebola spiralling out of control 
• ‘No Ebola workers for Africa’

Chief executive Mark Goldring warned that the world was “in the eye of a storm”.

“We cannot allow Ebola to immobilise us in fear, but … countries that have failed to commit troops, doctors and enough funding are in danger of costing lives,” he said.

The worst-ever outbreak of the deadly virus has so far killed more than 4500 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but isolated cases have now begun to appear in Europe and the United States.

“The Ebola crisis could become the definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation,” a spokesperson for the British-based charity said as it appealed for EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to do more.