Swine flu quarantine numbers drop below 300

A view through a microscope of the H1N1 strain of the swine flu virus. Photo supplied

The number of people in New Zealand quarantined because of swine flu has dropped by nearly 200 since yesterday, while the number of suspected and confirmed cases remained unchanged.

Five people have been confirmed to have Influenza A H1N1 swine flu.

There were 14 probable cases and 76 suspected cases, according to the latest Ministry of Health figures.

The decrease of people in isolation from 464 to 278 was because more people had completed the 72-hour isolation period, public health deputy director Dr Darren Hunt said.

Numbers of suspected cases and those in isolation would fluctuate as cases were found or ruled out, he said.

There was no evidence of community transmission in New Zealand as all the cases to date involved people who had recently returned from travel in areas of concern or were close contacts of cases, he said.

A student in the Hawke's Bay who had swine flu had recovered and was looking forward to returning to school, Hawke's Bay District Health Board (DHB) medical officer of health Caroline McElnay said.

All others in the group of students and teachers, who recently returned from a trip to North America, had been cleared of having the illness, she said.

She was pleased the DHB had contained the virus and none of the students, including the confirmed case, posed a threat of spreading the virus once they were released from isolation, Ms McElnay said.

Dr Hunt said internationally, there had been an increase in the number of cases and countries affected and the World Health Organisation advised continued vigilance.

People should wash their hands regularly because hygiene was the most important step in preventing the spread of influenza, he said.

Anyone with flu symptoms should seek medical attention.

Worldwide there were 2371 confirmed cases in 24 countries.

Mexico had 1112 confirmed cases of swine flu, including 42 deaths and the United States had 896 confirmed cases, including two deaths, WHO figures showed.

Other countries with confirmed cases of swine flu are: Austria, 1, Canada, 201, Hong Kong, 1, Colombia, 1, Costa Rica, 1, Denmark, 1, El Salvador, 2, France, 5, Germany, 10, Guatemala, 1, Ireland, 1, Israel, 6, Italy, 5, Netherlands, 2, Poland, 1, Portugal, 1, South Korea, 3, Spain, 81, Sweden, 1, Switzerland, 1, and the United Kingdom, 32.

- NZPA