Asia-Pacific on alert as first swine flucases confirmed

LEADALL: Asia-Pacific on alert as first swine flucases confirmedWellington - Ten swine flu cases were confirmed Tuesday in New Zealand as public health authorities throughout the Asia-Pacific region went on high alert to contain the outbreak. New Zealand was the sixth country to report confirmed cases of the swine flu H1N1 virus, which broke out in Mexico and has now spread to the United States, Spain, Canada, Britain and Israel.

Thailand and South Korea reported suspected cases of the mutated virus.

The World Health Organization confirmed that the virus had been imported into New Zealand by a group of teenage college students returning home from a study trip to Mexico. None of the victims were seriously ill.

The nine students and a teacher were all recovering in isolation at their homes and receiving Tamiflu antiviral medication, the Director of Public Health, Dr Mark Jacobs, said. They should be able to resume normal activities after 72 hours of treatment.

All the students were asked to stay in self-quarantine at home and offered courses of Tamiflu.

In Seoul, health officials on Tuesday were investigating an influenza infection suspected to be swine flu detected in a 51-year-old South Korean woman who returned from a trip to Mexico last weekend, the Korean Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The centre was testing whether the woman contracted the mutated H1N1 virus, the strain identified in the swine-flu outbreak in Mexico, which may have cost up to 149 lives so far. Test results are expected in one or two days, the centre said.

The woman was among three South Koreans who were tested after displaying flu-like symptoms following their return from Mexico, but the other two have already tested negative for influenza.

In Bangkok, a 42-year-old Thai civil servant who attended a seminar in Mexico earlier this month was admitted to hospital and kept under quarantine due to suspicion she had contracted swine flu, hospital sources said Tuesday.

Chulalongkorn Hospital deputy-director Dr Thirapong Charoenwhit said the woman patient was suffering a light fever and has been sick since April 23.

Like other Asian countries, Thailand has been swift to put in place thermal scanners and quarantine stations at its three main international airports to prevent swine flu sufferers from spreading the virus.

Australians were warned against travel to Mexico as doctors monitored the health of 20 people who returned from the Americas with flu-like symptoms.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon stressed that there had been no confirmed case of swine flu in Australia.

Roxon ordered the captains of aircraft arriving from the Americas to report to quarantine officers any passengers they suspect of having influenza.

The Japanese government urged its citizens to postpone trips to Mexico and those who live there to return home.

Prime Minister Taro Aso set up a task force Tuesday morning and raised the alert level after the WHO upgraded the pandemic alert level to phase 4.

Phase 4 means that there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus in at least one country, according to the WHO.

Japanese quarantine officials were ordered to board planes that arrive from North America to conduct health checks on passengers before they disembark.

Chinese authorities said they were investigating several suspicious cases involving influenza-like symptoms but had not designated any probable or confirmed cases of swine flu so far.

Taiwan went on full alert against the swine flu outbreak, formed a command centre and ordered on-board inspection of passengers from North America before they disembark.

The Department of Health also instructed all cities and counties to set up their own centres to monitor possible cases.

Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang said the city was at a "higher risk" of an outbreak of swine flu because its 7 million people are so densely packed in high-rises.

Tsang urged members of the public to cooperate with officials in fighting the flu strain.

India advised its citizens against visiting nations hit by a swine flu outbreak and began screening passengers coming from these countries. A travel advisory was issued against visiting Mexico, the United States, Britain, France, Canada and New Zealand, the PTI news agency reported.(dpa)

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