It is the first time the DEC, which represents 13 UK aid charities, has ever called for donations in response to a disease outbreak.
The group is describing the spread of the virus as "explosive" and says the disease is not only killing people but ripping apart health services, devastating communities and destroying people's ability to support themselves.
Catholic charity CAFOD is a member of the DEC and spokesperson Sophie Arcedeckne-Butler told Premier the need is huge.
She said: "The priority over the next three months really needs to be on containing the virus.
"As well as raising awareness, there's a lot of work being done on actually trying to treat those infected and prevent ongoing transmission through safe burials."
The DEC says that if the Ebola outbreak continues to grow unabated, West Africa could experience a major food crisis by January.
Speaking about a possible famine, Ms Arcedeckne-Butler said: "Across Sierra Leone and Liberia they're facing huge challenges in terms of food assistance.
"Harvest has been interrupted, the cost of food has skyrocketed, so what we're doing with our church partners is providing food assistance to those really vulnerable families."
Nearly 5,000 people have died and more than 10,000 have been infected by the Ebola virus.
The outbreak has been described not only as a health crisis, but also as a humanitarian crisis with global dimensions.