Australian woman who worked as nurse in West Africa may have brought Ebola back home

An Australian who was a volunteer nurse fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone is now being monitored in a Queensland hospital after fears arose that she may have become infected by the disease.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Sue Ellan Kovack set out to fight the West African Ebola outbreak in September as a Red Cross volunteer. The 57-year-old had returned to Australia on October 7, and was taken to Cairns hospital after reporting a fever on October 9.

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"Our heartfelt thoughts are with the Red Cross aid worker and her family. We will do everything we can to support her at this difficult time," Peter Walton, the head of the organization's international program, said in a statement on Twitter.

Walton later reported that Kovack was doing well. "We just have to play a bit of a waiting game," he said. "She's in good spirits-she's feeling good at the moment."

One of Kovack's friends, Jennifer King, said that Kovack was very "popular".

"She wants to help people, she's incredibly compassionate and she's selfless like not many people on earth," King said.

"A bunch of the nurses [at Cairns Hospital] have gone down to Accident and Emergency [department] to offer to nurse Sue Ellen, which is really brave."

Queensland's chief medical officer, Dr. Jeannette Young, praised Kovack's efforts, saying that she reacted appropriately when she first thought she might be ill.

"I think she's an amazing lady to go to Africa and provide that service," she said.

Kovack was in isolation since she had returned home, per protocol for medical workers who have been dealing with Ebola patients.

Young said that Kovack was testing herself while she was in isolation in her own home, and had not been in the community since she returned home.

"This morning she rang up as part of [national health] protocol because she developed a low-grade fever of 37.6 (99.6 Fahrenheit) degrees Celsius," Young said.

"But we felt it important that she come into Cairns Hospital for Ebola virus disease."

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