Four members of the Australian women's water polo team have been placed into quarantine in Rio after being struck down with a virus just days out from the opening ceremony.

The four Aussie Stingers athletes are suffering from a gastro-intestinal illness and were separated from their teammates as soon as the squad landed in Rio on Monday, Australian Olympic boss Kitty Chiller said.

The Stingers had been training in Italy in recent weeks before flying to Brazil, ahead of their first game against Russia on Tuesday, local time.

Chiller said the sick team members - who have not been named - would be isolated in an area of the athletes' village that normally houses Australian team officials.

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They would not have contact with their teammates or anyone in the village until they received the all-clear from team doctor David Hughes.

There was no suggestion at this stage that the athletes would be replaced ahead of the competition.

"Dr David Hughes will keep a close eye on them and they'll stay in there for 48 hours until after they're all cleared," Chiller said.

"There will be no interaction between anyone and the village for t﻿he next 48 hours."

The Aussie Stingers are yet again a strong medal hope for Australia, after their bronze-medal performances at the London and Beijing Games, while in Sydney the team clinched the gold medal in a nail-biting finish.