The Hawke's Bay fruit picking community has been struck by a vicious flu outbreak leaving two overseas workers hospitalised.
Earlier media reports said managing director of Thornhill Horticultural Contracting Richard Bibby confirmed 31 of his workers had been off work with influenza-like symptoms and that two of them have been hospitalised with confirmed influenza on Friday.
Eighteen of those were still off work today.
A Hawke's Bay DHB spokeswoman said there were 71 cases of people showing symptoms of the H1N1 influenza outbreak.
The health board was monitoring the situation including whether the workers brought the flu into New Zealand or picked it up here.