Foreign minister Julie Bishop has expressed concern about the Ebola virus outbreak at a UN Security Council meeting she chaired on the disease. Speaking overnight in New York, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said the outbreak in Africa posed a grave threat to international peace and security. Ms Bishop, who also addressed the U.N. Security Council on terrorism on Wednesday, warned that gains in tackling the virus  to date could easily be reversed. Scroll down for video . Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Julie Bishop speaks during a meeting of the U.N. security council . Speaking overnight in New York, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said the outbreak in Africa posed a grave threat to international peace and security . Julie Bishop poses for photographs ahead of an interview in her office at Parliament House in Canberra. She has warned that gains made to date in tackling the virus could easily be reversed . 'The Security Council reiterates its grave concern about the unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, which constitutes a threat to international peace and security, and the impact of the Ebola virus on West Africa, in particular, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone,' Ms Bishop said. The debate came as an Australian company prepared to open a treatment facility in Sierra Leone, with doctors likely to treat their first patients within weeks. But Labor's Matt Thistlethwaite says the government is being hypocritical for saying one thing in New York but doing the opposite in Australia. Labor and non-government organisations have long been calling for specialist teams to be sent to West Africa . 'For months now the government has been ignoring those pleas,' he told Sky News. 'It's taken them too long to take action on this issue.' Health workers wearing protective suits assist a patient suspected of having Ebola on their way to an Ebola treatment centre. Last week, 533 new cases of the virus were reported in Sierra Leone . The debate came as an Australian company prepared to open a treatment facility in Sierra Leone, with doctors likely to treat their first patients within weeks. The head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) warned the meeting by videoconference link that there was still 'a long battle ahead of us'. Fighting the epidemic 'is going to require a tremendous increase in resources on the ground, in a dispersed geographic area', Anthony Banbury said. Last week, 533 new cases were reported in Sierra Leone, the highest weekly tally since the outbreak hit there, although recent data has shown a decline in cases in Liberia, the worst-hit country, and Guinea. Aspen Medical was awarded $20 million in federal funding earlier this month to run a 100-bed British-built military field hospital in Sierra Leone. On Friday co-founder Dr Andrew Walker said construction was expected to be completed by the end of November.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop spoke overnight at a United Nations meeting .
She said the virus posed a grave threat to international peace and security .
Labor's Matt Thistlethwaite said the government is being hypocritical .
An Australian company is will open a treatment facility in Sierra Leone .
Last week, 533 new cases were reported in Sierra Leone .
Foreign minister Julie Bishop has expressed concern about the Ebola virus outbreak at a UN Security Council meeting she chaired on the disease. Speaking overnight in New York, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said the outbreak in Africa posed a grave threat to international peace and security. Ms Bishop, who also addressed the U.N. Security Council on terrorism on Wednesday, warned that gains in tackling the virus  to date could easily be reversed. Scroll down for video . Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Julie Bishop speaks during a meeting of the U.N. security council . Speaking overnight in New York, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said the outbreak in Africa posed a grave threat to international peace and security . Julie Bishop poses for photographs ahead of an interview in her office at Parliament House in Canberra. She has warned that gains made to date in tackling the virus could easily be reversed . 'The Security Council reiterates its grave concern about the unprecedented extent of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, which constitutes a threat to international peace and security, and the impact of the Ebola virus on West Africa, in particular, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone,' Ms Bishop said. The debate came as an Australian company prepared to open a treatment facility in Sierra Leone, with doctors likely to treat their first patients within weeks. But Labor's Matt Thistlethwaite says the government is being hypocritical for saying one thing in New York but doing the opposite in Australia. Labor and non-government organisations have long been calling for specialist teams to be sent to West Africa . 'For months now the government has been ignoring those pleas,' he told Sky News. 'It's taken them too long to take action on this issue.' Health workers wearing protective suits assist a patient suspected of having Ebola on their way to an Ebola treatment centre. Last week, 533 new cases of the virus were reported in Sierra Leone . The debate came as an Australian company prepared to open a treatment facility in Sierra Leone, with doctors likely to treat their first patients within weeks. The head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) warned the meeting by videoconference link that there was still 'a long battle ahead of us'. Fighting the epidemic 'is going to require a tremendous increase in resources on the ground, in a dispersed geographic area', Anthony Banbury said. Last week, 533 new cases were reported in Sierra Leone, the highest weekly tally since the outbreak hit there, although recent data has shown a decline in cases in Liberia, the worst-hit country, and Guinea. Aspen Medical was awarded $20 million in federal funding earlier this month to run a 100-bed British-built military field hospital in Sierra Leone. On Friday co-founder Dr Andrew Walker said construction was expected to be completed by the end of November.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop has expressed Africa posed a grave threat to international international peace and security, and the impact prepared to open a treatment facility in Sierra Thistlethwaite says the government is being week, 533 new cases of the virus were reported in company prepared to open a treatment facility in said. Last week, 533 new cases were reported in