As the death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa rises, health organizations around the world, including in the Maritimes, are looking at ways to address the deadly disease.

The outbreak has claimed more than 900 lives in West Africa. Health professionals say the risk for Canada is low, but they expect it will arrive in the country at some point.

“The way that it’s going to come to Canada is through a traveler,” infectious disease specialist Dr. Todd Hatchette told Steve Murphy during the CTV News at Six Wednesday evening.

“We live in a global village. It doesn’t take long now to travel halfway across the world so, at some point…the longer the virus is out there, the more likely it is to travel.”

Nova Scotia Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine says he is confident Canadians are prepared to deal with the Ebola virus.

“Having gone through, you know, SARS and H1N1, I think there’s a greater system of very strong protocols that can get us through a particular case,” says Glavine.

“We always have to refine those plans and, when something like Ebola happens elsewhere in the world, it’s a good opportunity for us to look at them and look at them again and see how robust they are and really, just to dust off those plans and make sure that we’re ready if we did get affected,” says Dr. Frank Atherton, Nova Scotia’s deputy chief medical officer of health.

Atherton says his office is staying in contact with the Public Health Agency of Canada and they are looking at contingency plans in place for any public health emergency.

“It’s really a reason to be prepared, rather than concerned,” he says.

Atherton says his office has been reaching out to health professionals across the Maritimes and sent material to workers in all three provinces this week.

“We’ve been putting together some joint messaging about Ebola to make sure that health professionals are aware and informed about the disease.”

So far, the outbreak is affecting four countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Guinea.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster