Britain will begin screening air passengers for ebola from tomorrow.
Temperature checks will be introduced at Heathrow's terminal one, before being rolled out to Gatwick airport and Eurostar stations.
Anyone arriving in England after travelling from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia will be subject to the screening.
Those who have had recent exposure to ebola sufferers, who are showing symptoms of the virus or who have a raised temperature will undergo a clinical assessment and transferred to hospital if necessary.
"This will allow potential ebola virus carriers arriving in the UK to be identified, tracked and given rapid access to expert health advice, should they develop symptoms," Mr Hunt said.
"Passengers will have their temperatures taken and complete a questionnaire asking about their current health, recent travel history and whether they might be at potential risk through contact with ebola patients.
"They'll also be required to provide contact details."
Those passengers not made to undergo a clinical assessment but still deemed to be at "high risk" will be contacted on a daily basis by Public Health England officials.
Mr Hunt said: "Should they develop symptoms, they'll have the reassurance of knowing this system will get them first-class medical care, as the NHS demonstrated with nurse William Pooley (who survived after contracting ebola in Sierra Leone)."
The Health Secretary's statement comes as the British Government revealed calls to the NHS non-emergency 111 phone line will be monitored for possible ebola sufferers.
Call handlers will question anyone ringing up with ebola-like symptoms about their recent travel history, to see if they have been to West Africa.
UK chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies has said Britain should expect a "handful" of ebola cases in the coming months after a major exercise to test the country's readiness for such cases was carried out over the weekend.
More than 4,000 people have died in the latest outbreak of ebola, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The World Health Organisation has warned that the ebola epidemic is the "most severe acute health emergency in modern times”.
Its director-general said the outbreak has proved the world was "ill prepared" to deal with any sustained public health emergency.
The US started screening people travelling from those countries to its busiest international airports on Saturday to limit the spread of the disease.
Tests are currently being carried out on another suspected ebola sufferer in the US – just hours after a female nurse was confirmed to have contracted the disease from a patient.
