Ebola: Ikea 'Pledged More Money than 40 European Countries, Including Spain'

Swedish furniture company IKEA has pledged more money to fight the Ebola virus than at least 40 European countries.

According to a report by the UN, the home furnishing giant has so far pledged $6.7m (£4.3m, €5.3m) to combat the disease. The funds are more than the ones provided by countries such as Austria, Luxemburg and Italy.

Spain, also included in the list of donors who pledged less money than Ikea, has reported a few cases of Ebola.

"Ikea has given more, or about the same as Italy," UK Shadow Secretary for International Development Jim Murphy, who uncovered the UN data, said. "There are countries that need to do better, we have to say that publicly. If countries won't do their bit, we've got to embarrass them. This is going to affect us all unless we check it in West Africa."

"This is the single biggest threat since the emergence of HIV. The world acted together once the scale of HIV became clear, and that's just not happening here. We can't have an attitude, surely, saying that these are three countries people rarely visit, that people couldn't point to on a map, saying it's happening a long way away."

The UK has so far pledged $200m (£125m, €157.8m).

Sweden has pledged $32.9m (£20.5m, €25.9m), meaning IKEA is donating at least 10% of what its home country has promised.

In the report, the UN also said that at least $1bn (£625m, €789m) more is needed to fight the disease.

The Ebola outbreak, the worst in history, has killed nearly 5,000 people in west Africa since last January.

Ebola is contracted by contact with infected bodily fluids. The disease, dubbed by some as "the new Aids", is causing growing concern worldwide, as hundreds of people are dying every day in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Many countries are banning flights from Ebola-hit nations as a result of growing concern that the deadly virus could be spread to other countries if people from affected areas are allowed to travel.

Fears of contagion are also leading to a surge in racist and discriminatory attacks worldwide.