The infectious diseases expert tasked with overseeing Australia's response to the Ebola virus says hospitals are well prepared for the virus despite widespread panic in the community.
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Westmead Hospital's Director of Infection Prevention and Control, Lyn Gilbert, declined to comment on whether the federal government should be sending medical staff to West Africa, or on the visa ban on people immigrating from Ebola-affected countries.
But she said local hospitals were well equipped to deal with anybody exhibiting Ebola symptoms.
"I think it's reasonable to say that the more health care workers are available to help in West Africa the better," Professor Gilbert said.
"It's not that Ebola is more transmissible or more infectious than other infectious diseases that we've had a lot of experience in managing over the years. In fact, it's less so.
"The difference is that it's more serious if transmission occurs.
"We don't know what the risk of mortality in western countries will be and that means we can't make any mistakes. We need to be absolutely sure that we're able to contain this if a case is diagnosed in Australia."
The federal government last week appointed Professor Gilbert chair of an expert committee to advise clinicians on how to prevent the spread of Ebola if it reaches Australia.
She was among a panel of experts from the Marie Bashir Centre for Infectious Diseases addressing the media on Australia's preparedness for Ebola on Thursday.
Professor Gilbert said the committee's first task would be gaining consensus between the states and territories on the best protocols for activities such as transporting specimens and clinical waste.
Among the 190 people who have returned to NSW from the affected area, four health care workers and two humanitarian visa families are being monitored for symptoms of Ebola.
The World Health Organisation has calculated 15,000 cases of the disease in West Africa and 5000 deaths, though infectious diseases specialists believe that figure is an underestimate.
NSW Health Director of Communicable Diseases Vicky Sheppeard said an updated contingency plan for infectious diseases had been circulated throughout the public health network and she was confident hospitals were prepared.
"At the moment we're working very closely with returned healthcare workers whoare coming back from West African countries and doing reassessments and developing a plan for limiting their social mixing and detecting any signs of Ebola should they develop," she said.
