Wellington Hospital prepared for Ebola

Ebloa has already killed nearly 4500 people. Photo / AP

Wellington Hospital has confirmed it is one of three designated receiving hospitals for any patient suspected to be carrying the Ebola virus which has killed almost 4500 people to-date.

Capital and Coast District Health Board infectious diseases physician Dr Michelle Balm said a response plan to deal with any suspected cases was in place and had been developed by the hospital's infectious diseases team alongside Regional Public Health.

Any patient who was suspected or confirmed to be carrying the virus would be looked after in a designated isolation suite - separate from other patient care areas, Dr Balm said.

Staff training in the use of personal protective equipment was ongoing, but Dr Balm said she felt confident the hospital had the capacity to safely respond.

An Ebola response team had also been participating in regular teleconferences with the Ministry of Health, she said.

The World Health Organisation said almost 4500 had died from the virus - nearly all of them in West Africa.

Earlier this week it was confirmed at least 58 people entering New Zealand since August had been screened for Ebola, but none had given health authorities cause for concern.

Director of Public Health Dr Darren Hunt told the Herald on Sunday anyone arriving from West African countries affected by the outbreak was screened for symptoms or possible exposure to the virus.

A Customs spokeswoman today confirmed passengers arriving from West African countries were being questioned by Customs staff, but the risk of a traveller arriving in New Zealand with the virus remained very low.

Customs officers were questioning travellers arriving in New Zealand about the countries they had visited in the past 30 days and if they were found to have visited West African countries affected by Ebola - including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo - then they were being asked further questions to determine the level of risk.

Local public health staff would then be contacted if passengers required a health assessment, the spokeswoman said.

Middlemore Hospital has also set up a bio-containment unit in response to the global Ebola scare, staffed by infectious disease specialists.

The unit has two negative-pressure rooms that can accommodate up to four patients and three colour-coded zones.

Heavy-duty white gowns, gloves, masks, special footwear and rolls of black tape to cover gaps in protective clothing are held in a "green zone". Heavy doors designed to stop contaminated air escaping protect a "red zone" where infected patients would be kept. The third receiving hospital is in Christchurch.

Prime Minister John Key last week said the likelihood of the Ebola virus reaching New Zealand remained low but "you have seen a situation where at least potential cases have gone to Australia, so you can see that we're not completely immune from that".

Auckland Regional Public Health Service clinical director Dr Julia Peters said a team of six to eight people had been planning a response to a possible Ebola outbreak in New Zealand for the past six weeks.