Fears that the Ebola virus has reached Australian shores appear to be unfounded, with reports that it is "exceedingly unlikely" that the patient admitted to a Gold Coast hospital this morning has the virus.
Channel Seven in Australia said that staff at Gold Coast University Hospital no longer believed the man to be at risk from the virus that has ravaged west Africa.
The patient, named as Michael Walsh, 27, who had returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo two days ago, was rushed to hospital this morning and isolated.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that paramedics had been to told wear protective clothing before treating him.
A hospital spokeswoman told the paper this morning: "We already have processes in place to manage these types of infections. We have an area within the hospital where the patient can be isolated."
Channel Seven said that Mr Walsh had been arrested this morning for trespassing in Chevron Renaissance, a upmarket apartment and retail complex in Surfers Paradise.
A tweet from Channel Seven this morning showed Mr Walsh being taken into hospital on a stretcher by staff wearing protective clothing.
The virus, which has ravaged west Africa and killed more than 2000 people since the latest outbreak, has been described by health experts as "painful, dreadful and merciless".
The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak in West Africa an international emergency.
There is no cure for Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
More than half of people infected in this outbreak have died. Death rates in some past outbreaks reached 90 percent.
It's a cruel end that comes within days. Patients grow feverish and weak, suffering through body aches, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding, sometimes bleeding from the nose and ears.
The damage can spiral far beyond the patients themselves.
Because it's spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick patients, Ebola takes an especially harsh toll on doctors and nurses, already in short supply in areas of Africa hit by the disease.