Auckland pupils were not seriously ill, Mr Ryall said, and confirmation they had swine flu was expected within the week. One of their teachers had also been admitted to hospital with similar symptoms, officials said on Monday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
WELLINGTON - NEW Zealand health authorities were on Monday tracking down hundreds of plane passengers who travelled with a group of school students believed to have caught the potentially deadly swine flu.
Confirmation a priority
Health Minister Ryall said confirmation the first set of pupils had swine flu was a priority for them and their families.
'As I've said, the advice we've received is it is probable these kids have swine flu and that's why we have taken the arrangements we have,' Mr Ryall said.
Ten students from a high school who returned from Mexico on Saturday tested positive for influenza A and were likely to have the swine flu, Health Minister Tony Ryall announced on Sunday.
The Auckland pupils were not seriously ill, Mr Ryall said, and confirmation they had swine flu was expected within the week. One of their teachers had also been admitted to hospital with similar symptoms, officials said on Monday.
Their Air New Zealand flight to Auckland from Los Angeles had 364 passengers in total and the rest of the passengers have been urged to contact health authorities.
'Now that we know that this is an influenza A virus, possibly the swine flu virus, our attention will definitely be turning to all the contact tracing,' the clinical director of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service Julia Peters told Radio New Zealand.
Separately, a small number of students from another Auckland high school who had recently returned from Mexico were also showing flu-like symptoms, and that group has been quarantined. Mexican authorities have so far reported 20 confirmed deaths from swine flu and have said another 61 suspect deaths are being investigated as the World Health Organisatioin warned of 'pandemic potential'.
Suspected cases of the new strain of flu have been reported from around the world, although two people admitted to a hospital in Australia tested negative for swine flu, officials there said on Monday.
Prime Minister John Key said New Zealand was well prepared to deal with any new flu outbreak following a plan drawn up during the 2003 bird flu scare.
The country has about 1.4 million doses of Tamiflu anti-flu medication, he said. Reports from Mexico have indicated Tamiflu is effective in treating the new flu, New Zealand health officials said.
'I think New Zealanders can be confident that the government has a plan, that plan was put in place quite a number of years ago when we were concerned about avian bird flu,' Mr Key told Television New Zealand. -- AFP
