Nurse Isolated in Australia for Suspected Ebola; Health Minister Assures Country Ebola-Ready

A nurse in Australia has been isolated in Cairns for a suspected case of Ebola. According to health officials, the 57-year-old woman was working in a hospital in Sierra Leone and treated Ebola patients. Chief health officer Jeanette Young has confirmed the information.

Reports said that since the nurse's return last weekend, she has been placed under quarantine at home. She had a low-grade fever before she was admitted into Cairns Hosptal. The patient is being tested for Ebola and results could be available soon.

The woman's doctors said she did not pose a risk to people she had travelled with on the plane from Sierra Leone to Australia. Young said the risk of infection was "extremely low" unless other people were directly exposed to the patient's bodily fluids like blood, vomit or faeces.

Meanwhile, Sky News reports that screening is in place for the possibility of Ebola arriving in Australia. Health Minister Peter Dutton said the screening process was all set for travellers coming from Africa. Hospitals around the country have conducted live training exercises and drills in case they admitted patients suspected of Ebola. Dutton wants to assure Australians that the country is ready to deal with the virus in case it enters the country.

Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organisation, more than 3,400 people have died from Ebola in West Africa as of Oct. 3. Pledges of almost US$700 million will go to West Africa to help fight Ebola, but the people tasked to bury the highly contagious corpses of Ebola patients are not paid or protected enough.

Reports said disposing the infectious corpses of Ebola victims safely is important in the effort to contain the virus. Liberian health workers have issued threats to go on strike if they are not granted an increase in their hazard pay. Their frustrations stem from their challenging task and the lack of resources on the ground.

Like other people in West Africa, health workers treating Ebola patients are also vulnerable to the virus since it is spread by contact with bodily fluids and infected corpses. Sierra Leone's deputy health minister, Madina Rahman, said the strike has been resolved and is currently investigating the delay in health worker hazard payments.