An infectious diseases expert says the threat of an ebola outbreak in Western Australia is “very, very small”.
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Curtin University Professor John Mackenzie said even the chance of a person arriving in Australia with the disease - currently the subject of the world's worst outbreak in Africa - was low.
“The chance of it coming in is really very, very, small. They [people with the virus] would have to come via air, which means coming via South Africa or the Middle East," Professor Mackenzie said.
"There are no direct flights here from places where the outbreaks are occurring and they’d likely fall ill before they got here."
Professor MacKenzie said obvious symptoms in the vast majority of cases usually showed within a week of a person contracting ebola.
He said the “rather nasty virus” had occurred in small regions in African countries in the past but the latest outbreak was the biggest and most widespread.
Professor MacKenzie said quarantine and immigration officers at Perth Airport and other Australian airports would be looking out for people returning from African countries and taking extra interest in their physical condition.
“It’s usually just in one small region, now it’s in several different regions across different countries at the same time,” he said.
“On the form travellers fill out, you have to say whether you have travelled to Africa recently and if you have, they will be very interested and will likely ask more questions.”
He said airport staff would likely get more information about where people were headed once they left the airport, if they suspected there was some risk they would fall seriously ill.
Professor MacKenzie said hospitals in developed countries such as Australia had good “barrier nursing practices”, which would help contain any occurrence of ebola.
Items such as gloves, goggles and masks were easily available in Australia and could reduce the risk of the virus being passed on.
Professor MacKenzie said ebola mostly spread through bodily fluids so airport workers had little reason to be concerned.
He also said Australian mining companies in Africa were “well aware" of the issue and would be taking precautions to keep workers informed and reduce their risk of contracting the virus.
When contacted for comment about the matter earlier this week Perth Airport referred the matter to the Health Department but confirmed that Perth Airport had an "aerodrome emergency plan", which covered aspects of biosecurity and involved numerous State and Commonwealth agencies.
The WA Health Department responded with comments from a Commonwealth Department of Health spokesman.
“The Australian Government Department of Health assesses the likelihood of ebola being imported to Australia as very low,” he said.
“To assist with ongoing analysis of that risk, Health is actively monitoring the epidemiology of the outbreak, with a particular focus on the potential spread of the disease.
“Australia has long standing and efficient health status checking processes in-flight, and at the primary line at airports during which Commonwealth border officers can refer ill passengers to quarantine officers with rapid referral if required."
