It is the 'disaster of our generation': Oxfam

Aid agency Oxfam yesterday said Ebola could become the "definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation", as US President Barack Obama urged against "hysteria" in the face of the growing crisis.

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.

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 4,500 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.

Obama's warning about hysteria came a day after the World Bank said the battle against the disease was being lost and as the US president named an "Ebola czar" to coordinate Washington's response.

A global UN appeal for nearly $1 billion to fight the spread of the disease has so far fallen short.

Meanwhile, as panic and Ebola scares spread worldwide, Obama called for patience and perspective.

"This is a serious disease, but we can't give in to hysteria or fear -- because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science," Obama said.

Friday saw a number of false alarms in the United States as fears grew, including at the Pentagon, where an entrance was closed after a woman vomited in a parking lot. US authorities later found no evidence that she had contracted Ebola.