WELLINGTON (New Zealand) - NEW Zealand has confirmed a case of (A)H1N1 flu in a patient whose illness was contracted inside the country, its first such case, a health official said on Monday.

Public Health Director Mark Jacobs said a 7-year-old boy caught the disease from his father, who had returned from the United States with the illness.

Until now New Zealand, the first Asia-Pacific nation with confirmed (A)H1N1 flu infections, has prevented the illness from spreading domestically. New Zealand had 17 confirmed cases of the virus.

Two other cases of (A)H1N1 flu confirmed on Monday involved travelers who had returned from the US and Australia.

Mr Jacobs said 92 people in isolation or quarantine and being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu were cases of Influenza A who are also suspected of having the (A)H1N1 flu.

New Zealand hospitals 'already entering the seasonal influenza period would soon be overwhelmed' by a widespread flu outbreak, so sufferers would likely be cared for at home, he said in a message to the country's physicians. -- AP