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'Aid workers creating Ebola risk in Australia'

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IANS Sydney

Aid workers are creating the risk of Ebola virus disease in Australia, a media report Thursday said citing a federal MP.

A nurse who has recently returned from Sierra Leone, where she was working in a hospital treating Ebola victims, is being assessed in Cairns Hospital, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"Cairns woman suspected of having been infected with the deadly Ebola virus has put the nation at risk because of her humanitarian ambitions," federal MP Bob Katter said.

He has slammed quarantine authorities after it emerged that the 57-year-old nurse, who had worked for the Red Cross in Sierra Leone, was being tested for Ebola.

 

Registered nurse Sue-Ellen Kovack returned to Australia at the weekend after a month working in Sierra Leone, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic which has so far claimed almost 3,900 lives across five west African countries.

Kovack returned Tuesday to Australia, where she remained in quarantine as per protocol.

On Thursday, she was admitted to hospital with a "low-grade fever" with results of tests expected to be known by Thursday night or early Friday.

But Katter said it was "unbelievable and incomprehensive" how a person could get into Australia from an Ebola-infected country.

"There cannot be any compromise with this," Katter said.

Australian Medical Association head Brian Owler has lashed out at Katter's "hysterical" response.

He has called for calm until the results are known, and for Australia to dedicate more resources to stopping the crisis overseas.

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First Published: Oct 09 2014 | 4:02 PM IST

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