The Queensland Government is seeking federal approval for further measures to prevent a local Ebola outbreak.
Premier Campbell Newman wants border protection officers to take the temperature of all travellers returning from the West African danger zone.
Their details would be forwarded to quarantine and public health officials, who would then do a thorough test if necessary.
Mr Newman told Parliament he had outlined the request in a letter to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.
“I’ve talked about our position in relation to Ebola and particularly healthcare workers returning to Australia and people who are coming in from countries in the West African region,” Mr Newman said.
Second round of testing proves negative
A young woman has been discharged from hospital in Brisbane after a second round of Ebola tests returned a negative result.
The 18-year-old fell ill after arriving with her family from Guinea about a fortnight ago.
Her initial test result on Monday returned a negative result and health authorities said she has now been allowed home.
The teenager had arrived in Brisbane from West Africa almost a fortnight earlier.
She developed a fever on Saturday night and was transferred to an isolation unit at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Prior to that she had been in home quarantine.
It was the third Ebola scare in Queensland this year following one in Cairns and another on the Gold Coast.
Mock exercise to test readiness
Queensland Health will run a mock Ebola exercise next week to test its readiness for a possible detection.
The state’s chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said the chances of the deadly Ebola virus being brought into Australia were slim.
Still, Dr Young has been holding talks with stakeholders on Queensland’s readiness, should a case appear.
Health officials will next week run an exercise from Roma in the southern inland, where a person who has just returned from West Africa reports feeling unwell.
“From that point onwards we’ll treat them as if they’re a genuine case,” Dr Young said.
She said the patient would be taken to Roma Hospital then flown to Brisbane in an isopod designed to prevent them from infecting anyone else.