Australian journalist Michael Usher is in quarantine after potentially being exposed to Ebola during a recent trip to Africa.

The 60 Minutes reporter had spent a week in Sierra Leone reporting on the Ebola crisis with four colleagues.

The reporter is in “voluntary quarantine”. Image via Facebook.

He touched down in Sydney airport yesterday, where he was detained for almost five hours.

A Perth woman has tested negative to carrying the deadly Ebola virus.

He will now stay in voluntary quarantine for the next week – meaning he will not even see his family during that time.

Passengers must now fill in a form before arriving in Australia which details their whereabouts in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly disease.

The deadly outbreak has killed thousands.

After filling in the form, Usher and colleagues were assessed by Customs and Quarantine officers and representatives from the NSW Department of Health.

Australian nurse treating Ebola patients rushed to hospital.

Usher told The Daily Telegraph:

The team threw away the clothing they wore in Ebola-stricken areas before boarding their flight.

Quarantine is the best hope of stopping the spread of Ebola.

They must now check their temperatures twice a day for three weeks and text their results to Health Department officials.

Found yourself wondering what the symptoms of Ebola are? Read this.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

It has a three week incubation period, and early symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, cough, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

So far it is believed more than 10,000 people have died from the outbreak.