Australia's plans to deploy healthcare workers to Ebola-stricken West Africa has stalled due to the lack of assurances from nearby countries to provide emergency evacuation and support to infected workers.

Federal opposition has called on the government to step up aid efforts and send medical teams to the region before Ebola spirals out of control, warning that an uncontained spread of the virus poses the risk of infecting up to 1.4 million people within one  year.

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Officials, however, argued that the safety of its citizens should also be taken into consideration.

It would be irresponsible of the government to send aid workers to West Africa knowing that they would constantly face the risk of infection without ensuring the placement of effective risk mitigation policies, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.

A flight back to Australia takes about 30 hours. It is highly doubtful an Ebola-infected worker would survive that return flight, Health Minister Peter Dutton said.

Dutton also pointed out that other European countries nearer to the outbreak zone have decided against sending medical personnel.

So far, no offers to provide emergency treatment to infected Australian health workers have been received.

The government has been working to sign a deal that would ensure the evacuation and treatment of its staff in West Africa to a facility less than five hours away, Australian news agency The Age relayed.

In recent weeks, Australian diplomats have been in talks with Western and European officials to secure a "political agreement" that would ensure the efficient treatment of its defense and healthcare nationals should the need arise.

To date, no "political agreement" has been settled on.

While Ebola-infected workers could get treatment in West Africa, insufficient facilities and medical technology don't provide assurances for quality of care.

Abbott said Australian hospitals are well-equipped to receive Ebola patients should they arrive in the country, adding that the facilities could serve as back-up support in the event of an outbreak in the Asia Pacific where inadequate public health systems are prevalent.

Australia has donated US$18 million in the fight against Ebola, an amount on top of the US$40 million it contributes annually to the World Health Organization.

TagsAustralia, health workers, West Africa, what is ebola, Ebola outbreak