While four states have reportedly established quarantine protocols for people who have been in contact with Ebola patients in West Africa, Gov. Deval Patrick said Massachusetts will be following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols and does not have a procedure to quarantine people.

"We don't need a plan to quarantine. We're doing what the CDC has advised. I think we are well prepared," Patrick said Monday morning at an event where he announced USA Track & Field will return to Boston for next year's indoor championships.

The new policies recently put in place in New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Florida have stirred debate over the need to quarantine medical workers returning from countries hit hard by Ebola. The White House has emphasized the need to base policies on science.

The state policies have drawn some criticism.

A Maine nurse returning from Sierre Leone where she assisted with the response to the Ebola outbreak was held in a quarantine tent in New Jersey where she complained about her treatment, the lack of a shower, and being held even though she had no symptoms. On Monday New Jersey announced the patient, who had developed a fever but has been asymptomatic, will be discharged and transported to Maine via a private carrier.

Patrick said Massachusetts has protocols for isolating a patient who displays the symptoms of Ebola, which has killed thousands in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

"I understand people's anxiety, but there are health protocols about where risk is high and where it is not, and how to assure that where risk is high we deal with it, including isolation where someone is presenting symptoms and has been exposed," Patrick said.

Asked after the announcement at the Reggie Lewis Center Monday morning about how New York and New Jersey have responded, Patrick said, "I don't have a comment on New Jersey and New York."