Australian nurse quarantined due to suspected Ebola infection.

According to The Australian, a 57-year-old nurse has been quarantined in Cairns, Australia, after showing suspected symptoms of Ebola following her return from Sierra Leone, one of the outbreak hotspots in West Africa.

According to the WHO, 8,000 people have been infected with Ebola so far.

The nurse, named Sue Ellen Kovack, previously worked for the Red Cross at a hospital treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.

She returned home on October 7th and self-isolated. This morning (October 9th), she developed a slight fever and went for a check-up at Cairns Hospital at 1 PM.

Authorities said the test results would be available either tonight (October 9th) or tomorrow morning (October 10th).

The Daily Telegraph quoted Dr. Jeanette Young, Queensland's chief medical officer, as saying: "Following national guidelines, this patient has been self-isolating at home and checking her temperature twice a day since returning. She has a fever of around 37.6 degrees."

According to her, those who traveled with the nurse on the flight from Sierra Leone to Australia were not at risk of infection, even if she had been infected.

Ms. Young said: "Although Ebola is a very dangerous disease, it cannot be transmitted through coughing and sneezing. Passengers on the same flight had absolutely no reason to worry because she showed no symptoms whatsoever when flying back to Australia."

Researchers are still searching for a cure for the deadly Ebola disease.

"The risk of infection is extremely low if there is no direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people or animals, such as blood or vomit."

Previously, Australia had controlled three other suspected cases of Ebola. On September 23, a woman was released from quarantine after tests showed she was not infected.

This woman had attended a conference in Africa. The other two cases involved a one-year-old child and a man who had previously traveled to Africa. Fortunately, neither of them contracted Ebola.

In response to the Ebola outbreak, the US and Canada have increased screening measures at airports.

According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola virus disease continues to increase in both the number of cases and deaths in six African countries, with one confirmed case of Ebola in the United States and one confirmed case of Ebola in Spain.

From December 2013 to October 9, 2014, 8,104 cases were recorded, including 3,908 deaths.

The report documented 409 cases of illness among healthcare workers, including 240 deaths.

According to Infonet