Ebola fears grow across globe

Dr. Kent Brantly wears protective gear at the case management center on the campus of ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia in this undated handout photograph courtesy of Samaritan's Purse. Brantly contracted Ebola and has been described as stable but suffering from some symptoms of the contagious disease, for which there is no known cure. [Photo/Agencies]

EU 'equipped and ready'

The European Union is equipped and ready to treat victims should the deadly virus be found in its 28 member states, an EU source said in Brussels.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that an infected person arrives in Europe but the EU has the means to track and contain any outbreak rapidly," the source said.

The isolation and negative testing of a suspected case in Valencia in Spain showed that the "system worked", the source added.

"The level of contamination on the ground is extremely worrying and we need to scale up our action before many more lives are lost," EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said.

In Hong Kong, a densely populated city previously scarred by disease outbreaks such as the 2003 SARS epidemic, health officials confirmed they would quarantine as a precautionary measure any visitors from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia who showed fever symptoms.

One woman arriving in the southern Chinese city from Africa, who showed symptoms including fever and vomiting, has tested negative for Ebola.

Australia said on Thursday it was well prepared in the unlikely event that the Ebola virus reached its shores. Australia has already warned against travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.